Animal Care Committee
Approved ACC Policy
Counting Pre-Weaned Animals
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Animal Care Committee
Approved ACC Policy |
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The ACC has an obligation to ensure compliance with federal regulations regarding the use of laboratory animals. PHS policy states that if animals are used, they must be counted in the protocol without regard to the age of the animals. NIH guidelines state that if animals are genotyped and found to be a genotype inappropriate for the experiment and subsequently will be euthanized at weaning, those animals do not have to be counted as used in the protocol. These two policies appear to be contradictory. The ACC has adopted the following policy on counting pre-weaned animals.
1. If a pre-weaned animal is genotyped and found to be a genotype inappropriate for the experiment and subsequently will be euthanized at weaning- no other experimental procedures will be performed- the animal will not have to be counted as being used toward the protocol.
2. If a pre-weaned animal has any other experimental procedures performed other than genotyping- including behavioral studies- that animal must be counted toward the total number of animals used on the protocol.
3. If an animal is not used experimentally, but is euthanized post-weaning (e.g., the genotyping was performed post-weaning), it must be counted toward the number of animals used in the protocol.
Effective Dates: July 31, 2008 thru June 30, 2011
This policy has been approved by a majority vote of the Animal Care Committee
Members
Joseph Lorenzo, M.D., Chair, Animal Care Committee