This model expresses cre-recombinase under the control of the endogenous vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) promoter enabling specific expression in VIP positive GABAergic interneurons. This model possesses a targeted insertion of (T2A)-cre immediately before the translational stop in the open reading frame of the VIP gene. The VIP-Cre rat is useful for applications requiring tissue specific expression, including optogenetics and breeding with transgenic floxed lines.