The Animal Unit Sub-committee was initially set up following a meeting of the Executive Management Committee on 17 April 1978 and met on three occasions between May and June, 1978. No minutes are currently held in this section for these early meetings but the purpose of the Animal Unit Sub-Committee was to address major problems with the Animal Unit already in place, concerning space, heating and ventilation, planning, facilities for staff and a need generally to upgrade the Unit and its facilities. The committee then met on 13 July 1978 with the intention of producing a design brief of the School's requirements of the Animal Unit over the next ten years and to programme the work within the School's available finance and control expenditure. It is not known whether the Animal Unit Committee held any further meetings after this.

The Animal Unit Users' Committee was established following a decision by the Professional Committee on 31 October 1978, its purpose being to discuss and to advise Heads of Departments upon the suitability of newly-drawn up architects' plans for the improvement of the Animal Unit and to recommend necessary modifications. It held its first meeting on 8 December 1978.