Research

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) - Useful Websites

Federal Regulations/Information:

• Animal Welfare Act, Regulations and Standards
  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/downloads/awr/awr.pdf
• Animal Welfare Information Center Home Page
  http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/
• Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare:
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm
• Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals:
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/phspol.htm
• USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Animal Care Policy Manual
  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/policy.shtml
  • Policy #11 from above manual lists discusses painful/distressful procedures.  IMPORTANT and helpful information for use when filling out UMaine’s IACUC form.  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/policy.php?policy=11
  • Policy #12 from above manual explains the written narrative for alternatives to painful procedures that is required if the pain is more than momentary or slight.  IMPORTANT and helpful information for use when filling out UMaine’s IACUC form.  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/policy.php?policy=12

Guidelines:

• American Society of Mammologists
  http://www.mammalsociety.org/
  • Guidelines for the Capture, Handling, and Care of Mammals (updated June 2010)  http://www.mammalsociety.org/articles/guidelines-american-society-mammalogists-use-wild-mammals-research
    
• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines on Euthanasia:
  Revised 2013; these guidelines set the standards for euthanasia practices. PHS Policy incorporates these guidelines by reference. https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf

• Amphibians and Reptiles, Recommendations for the Care of
  http://netvet.wustl.edu/species/REPTILES/POUGH.TXT

• Code of Practice, prepared by the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF) to provide guidelines for use by anyone conducting fieldwork at amphibian breeding sites or in other aquatic habitats.
  http://www.fws.gov/ventura/species_information/protocols_guidelines/docs/DAFTA.pdf

• Database on Refinement of Housing and Handling Conditions and Environmental Enrichment for Laboratory Animals (Rodents, Rabbits, Cats, Dogs, Ferrets, Farm Animals, Horses, Birds, Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles.
  http://www.saplonline.org/SearchResultsSite/refine.aspx
• Definition of Pain and Distress and Reporting Requirements for Laboratory Animals (Proceedings of the workshop held on June 22, 2000, Committee on Regulatory Issues in Animal Care and Use, Institute for Laboratory Animal Research)
  http://www.nap.edu/books/0309072913/html/

• Guidance Concerning Use of Carbon Dioxide for Euthanasia of Small Animals
  The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare has issued PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals guidance to Assured institutions clarifying current requirements regarding the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a euthanasia agent for small laboratory animals. Guidance regarding prompt reporting of related serious noncompliance is included. The guidance is contained in a July 17, 2002 notice published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts (OD-02-062), and posted at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-062.html.
• Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Agricultural Teaching and Research (Ag Guide 2010)
• Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (8th Edition NEW):   PDF  HTML

• Guidelines for Use of Fishes in Field Research
  http://fisheries.org/docs/policy_useoffishes.pdf
• Guidelines for Use of Live Amphibians and Reptiles in Field Research
  http://www.asih.org/files/hacc-final.pdf
• Institute for Lab Animal Research: On-line Journals
  http://ilarjournal.oxfordjournals.org/
  • Pain and Distress in Fish http://ilarjournal.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/4/327.full.pdf+html?sid=a2b34b11-8959-4f87-948c-0530eb2b205c
• Methods and Welfare Considerations in Behavioral Research with Animals (NIMH):
  The National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) has created a handbook, Methods and Welfare Considerations in Behavioral Research with Animals, to assist the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) in the evaluation of protocols that employ various means to manipulate the behavior and health of laboratory animals. The handbook may be useful to the researcher who is considering different methodologies for behavioral experiments. The report contains chapters on manipulation of access to food or fluids; experimental enclosures/physical restraint; pharmacological studies; aversive stimuli; social variables; ethological approaches; and teaching with animals.
  http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research-funding/grants/animals.pdf

• Scientists Center for Animal Welfare
  http://www.scaw.com/
  
• Status of Clove Oil and Eugenol for Anesthesia of Fish
  The Food and Drug Administration issued this information regarding the use of clove oil and its components for the anesthesia of fish:  http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm134765.htm
• Wild Birds in Research, Guidelines to the Use of
  http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/guide/guidelines.html
• Zebrafish Information Network

  http://zfin.org/

More Links:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/links.htm
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/outline.htm

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