Approved by Animal Institute Committee: 3/21/01
Reapproved: 6/15/11
Federal law stipulates that animals are not permitted to remain in laboratories for more than 12 continuous hours unless an exception is scientifically justified and approved in advance by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Animal Institute Committee). Examples of the need for such exceptions include:
- Continuous monitoring of specific animal(s) for longer than 12 hours.
- Testing specific animal(s) for longer than 12 hours using experimental equipment that cannot be set up in the animal room.
- Specialized housing conditions that cannot be set up in the animal room, or which might affect other animals in a common room.
In order to maintain and monitor the well-being of animals which are not housed in the animal facility, the following procedures must be followed:
- Only the minimum number of animals necessary may be housed in the laboratory at any one time
- A log must be kept in the animals’ regular housing room indicating which animals are being housed in the laboratory, where they are located, when they were removed, and when they were returned or sacrificed.
- An observation log must be kept in the laboratory housing area indicating that the standards of animal care are being maintained. This log must document that the animals have been observed and food and water supplies have been checked eachday, including weekends and holidays, and that cage changes are provided on a regular basis.
- The temperature and light periods in the laboratory housing area must not differ markedly from those in the animal rooms, unless altered as part of the experimental protocol.
- All animals and their log sheets must be available for inspection by representatives of the Institute for Animal Studies or the Animal Institute Committee at any time.