Approved: April 26, 2000

These guidelines are an adaptation of those developed by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and reflect the level of care we hope to attain at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. LAR staff will incorporate these practices in their daily routine and the departmental Standard Operating Procedures.

I. Provision of adequate veterinary care includes:

1. An attending veterinarian qualified by virtue of appropriate postgraduate training or experience in laboratory animal science and medicine.
2. An attending veterinarian fully knowledgeable concerning the current and proposed use of animals in the institutional research, testing and teaching programs.
3. The attending veterinarian’s participation in continuing education programs.
4. Additional veterinarians on staff to provide the necessary veterinary medical care and animal husbandry.
5. An attending veterinarian with appropriate authority to execute the duties inherent in assuring the adequacy of veterinary care and overseeing other aspects of animal care and use to ensure that the program meets applicable standards.
6. The attending veterinarian and two other veterinarians are full, voting members of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC); the other veterinarians are ex officio non-voting in compliance with USDA requirements.
7. The veterinarians are actively involved in
• the review of all protocols and projects,
• the inspection of facilities and
• review of institutional programs involving animals in research, testing and teaching.
8. There is a continuing institutional responsibility to foster and support enhancement of the program through the identification and adoption of techniques, procedures and policies that improve laboratory animal health and well-being.
9. The professional veterinary judgments are neither influenced nor controlled by institutional interests to the detriment of the laboratory animals.

II. The provision of adequate veterinary care involves the following primary areas of responsibility:

1. Disease detection and surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and resolution
1. The isolation, quarantine and stabilization programs for newly arrived animals
2. Preventive medicine programs such as vaccinations, ecto- and endoparasite treatments and other disease control measures
3. Daily observation of all animals by a person or persons qualified to verify their well-being is required.
4. Disease surveillance includes routine monitoring of colony animals for the presence of parasitic, bacterial and viral agents that may cause overt or inapparent disease. Additionally, cells, tissues, fluids, and transplantable tumors that are to be used in animals are monitored for infectious or parasitic agents that may cause disease in animals.
5. Diagnostic laboratory services are available and used as appropriate.
• Laboratory services include necropsy, histopathology, microbiology, clinical pathology, serology, and parasitology as well as other routine or specialized laboratory procedures, as needed.
6. Isolation units or separate rooms appropriate for the containment of the agents of concern are available for animals with infectious diseases.
7. The veterinarian has authority to use appropriate treatment or control measures, including euthanasia if indicated, following diagnosis of an animal disease or injury. The veterinarian's authority is exercised with the concurrence of the IACUC and the Institutional Official.
2. Handling and restraint; anesthetics, analgesics and tranquilizer drugs; and methods of euthanasia
1. The veterinary staff provides guidance to animal users.
2. The veterinary staff monitors animal use to assure that appropriate methods of handling and restraint are being used.
3. The veterinary staff monitors animal use to ensure proper use of anesthetics, analgesics, tranquilizers, and methods of euthanasia.
4. Written guidelines regarding the selection and use of anesthetics, analgesics and tranquilizing drugs and euthanasia practices for all species used are provided and periodically reviewed by the veterinarian.
5. The veterinary staff provides formal or informal instruction in the proper use of such agents and euthanasia procedures.
6. The veterinarian must have the responsibility and authority to assure that handling, restraint, anesthesia, analgesia and euthanasia are administered as required to relieve pain and such suffering in research animals, provided such intervention is not specifically precluded in protocols reviewed and approved by the IACUC.
7. The veterinary staff exercises good professional judgement to select the most appropriate pharmacologic agent(s) and methods to relieve animal pain or distress in order to assure humane treatment of animals, while avoiding undue interference with goals of the experiment.
3. Surgical and postsurgical care
1. The veterinary staff reviews and approves all preoperative, surgical and postoperative procedures at the time of protocol review.
2. The veterinary staff, in concert with the IACUC, insures that
• only facilities with programs appropriate for the intended surgical procedures are utilized and
• personnel are adequately trained and competent to perform the procedures.
1. The veterinary staff, in concert with the IACUC, monitors and provides recommendations concerning
• preoperative procedures,
• surgical techniques,
• the qualifications of institutional staff to perform surgery and
• the provision of postoperative care.
4. Animal well-being
1. Adequate veterinary care includes responsibility for the promotion and monitoring of an animal's well-being before, during and after experimentation or testing.
2. The attending veterinarian has the authority and responsibility for making determinations concerning animal well-being and assuring that animal well-being is adequately monitored and promoted.
3. The attending veterinarian exercises this responsibility in review of animal care and use protocols.
4. The attending veterinarian has the authority to remove an animal from an experiment adversely affecting its well-being beyond a level reviewed and approved by the IACUC.
5. This responsibility can be met by:
• Ensuring the adequacy of the physical plant, caging and ancillary equipment.
• Developing, implementing and monitoring sound animal care (husbandry) programs including such areas as sanitation, nutrition, genetics and breeding and vermin control.
• Establishing an acclimatization program to adapt animals to either short-term or long term restraint procedures.
• Improving and enriching an animal's environment to minimize the development of physical or behavioral abnormalities.
• Providing appropriate opportunities for human-animal socialization and acclimatization to the research environment or procedures.
• Performing periodic physical and clinical evaluations appropriate for the species and the experimental situation.
• Providing pre-procedural and post-procedural care in accordance with current established veterinary procedures.

III. The veterinarians involvement in the UTHSCSA program for the humane care and use of laboratory animals includes the following:

1. Review and approval of all animal care and use at the institution.
2. Consults during the design of experiments as related to model selection, collection and analysis of samples and data from animals, and methods and techniques proposed or in use.
3. Participation in the development and administration of training for institutional staff in the care and use of laboratory animals.
4. Assisting institutional health officials to establish and monitor an occupational health program for all animal care workers and others who have substantial animal contact.
5. Monitoring for zoonotic diseases.
6. Advising on and monitoring of standards of hygiene among staff involved with research animal care and use.
7. Advising on and monitoring of biohazard control policies and procedures as they apply to research animal care and use.

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