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  1. NAU
  2. Research
  3. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
  4. Animal care standard operating procedure

Animal care standard operating procedure

SOP No.: AC-24-0001

Revision No.: 01

Title: Procedure for approving the laboratory housing and use of research animals outside the vivarium for periods greater than 12 hours

IACUC approval date: 4/17/24

Supersedes: N/A

Purpose

To define the process and requirements for obtaining IACUC approval to house and use animals outside the Biological Sciences Annex and Avian Cognition Laboratory (the “vivarium”) or their natural environment in the case of field studies for periods greater than 12 hours.

Scope

Animals used for research purposes at NAU Mountain Campus including animals removed from the field for research.

Responsibiltiies

  1. The IACUC reviews and evaluates all requests based on the guidelines provided in this SOP.
  2. The Investigator provides all the necessary documentation to the IACUC as described in this SOP.

References

a. APHIS, USDA Animal Welfare Act Regulations, July 2023.

b. Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (2011). Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

c. PHS Policy on Humane Care and use of Laboratory Animals. NIH, Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, Revised August 2015.

d. UNTHSC IACUC Policy: Laboratory Approval for Animal Use Including Housing Animals Outside the Vivarium >12 Hours or overnight. https://www.unthsc.edu/research/laboratory-animal-medicine/

Reagents and materials

None

Equipment

None

Safety precautions

None

Definitions

AAALAC: Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care

ACL: Avian Cognition Laboratory

AWAR: Animal Welfare Act and Regulations

BSA: Biological Sciences Annex

OLAW: Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare

ORCAC: Office of Research Compliance Animal Care

SOPs: Standard Operating Procedures

Vivarium: The BSA and ACL, collectively

Procedure

A. Background information

  • a. NAU is an OLAW Assured and AAALAC accredited institution that adheres to the standards set forth in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals which applies to all vertebrate species. NAU is also an USDA registered research facility and is legally required to comply with the Animal Welfare Act and Regulations which applies to all warm-blooded animals excluding rat and mice bred for use in research.
  • b. Per the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Page 134), “animals should be housed in facilities dedicated to or assigned for that purpose, not in laboratories merely for convenience. If animals must be maintained in a laboratory to satisfy the scientific aims of a protocol, that space should be appropriate to house and care for the animals and its use limited to the period during which it is required.”
  • c. The USDA AWARs (§1.1 Definitions): “Study area means any building room, area, enclosure, or other containment outside of a core facility or centrally designated or managed area in which animals are housed for more than 12 hours.” Section §2.31 IACUC, c, 2 of the AWAR requires animal study areas to be inspected by the IACUC at least once every 6 months.
  • d. The PHS Policy (III, B) states that “a satellite facility is any containment outside of a core facility or centrally designated or managed area in which animals are housed for more than 24 hours.”
  • e. In order to comply with the federal requirements requiring the maintenance of our established program of veterinary care which is overseen by the Attending Veterinarian (USDA AWARs §2.33 and the Guide, p. 105), research animals may not be housed outside of the vivarium for greater than 12 hours, unless scientifically justified in an animal use protocol and approved by the IACUC.

B. All research animals must be housed in the vivarium — an approved, dedicated housing facility for animals. At NAU Mountain Campus, the two approved vivarium facilities are the Biological Sciences Annex (BSA) and the Avian Cognition Laboratory (ACL). This requirement does not apply to animals in field study research unless animals are removed from the field and are held outside their natural environment for greater than 12 hours.

C. An exception to the rule specified above in paragraph B may be granted by the IACUC for individual protocols, provided that scientific justification is given, and it is approved in the protocol. In this context, to comply with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, scientific justification means that there are specific reasons why housing the animals in the vivarium would meaningfully hinder the completion of the proposed research, and these reasons are backed by peer-reviewed literature when available.

D. To request housing of animals outside of the vivarium for more than 12 hours, the following items must be addressed for consideration and approval by the IACUC:

  • a. The request must be described in the protocol submission.
  • b. A scientific justification for housing the animals outside the vivarium or natural environment must be provided that aligns with the proposed objectives and design of the study.
  • c. The planned timeline of the research study, including proposed start and end dates for which the animals would not be housed in the vivarium or natural environment.
  • d. The request will be reviewed by the IACUC during the protocol review at a convened meeting adhering to the NAU IACUC SOP for protocol submissions.
  • e. Approval is contingent on the necessity of the use of an alternative location other than the vivarium, the scientific justification provided in the protocol, and the suitability of the proposed location.
  • f. A subcommittee of the IACUC to include the Attending Veterinarian or Animal Care Manager, will inspect the requested alternative location to verify it meets the following criteria:
    • i. Appropriate space for housing animals
    • ii. Adequate safety provisions
    • iii. Effective security measures
  • g. A Heating, Ventilation, Cooling and Air Conditioning (HVAC) assessment must be completed to verify that appropriate temperature and ventilation conditions comply with current regulations and guidelines. This includes air exchange rates.
  • h. Requirements for laboratory housing managed by the PI include:
    • i. Room temperatures and humidity levels must be maintained per the species requirements.
    • ii. Temperature and humidity must be monitored and recorded daily.
    • iii. A monitoring system must be in place to ensure that conditions are met should there be an equipment or HVAC failure.
    • iv. Lighting is set to a 12:12 cycle unless otherwise defined in the protocol.
    • v. It is the responsibility of the PI to report any mechanical failures that can impact animal welfare to NAU Facilities for repair. The ORCAC ACM must also be notified.
    • vi. The PI is responsible for all staff being trained and available to provide daily husbandry (food, water, cage cleaning) and health checks every day including weekends and holidays.
    • vii. All animal health checks are to be done daily and recorded.
    • viii. The ORCAC Veterinarian is to be immediately notified of any animal health concerns.
    • ix. The ORCAC Veterinarian will have access to the laboratory animal housing space at all times.
    • x. Contact information for principal laboratory personnel must be made available in the event of an emergency.
    • xi. All animals must be accounted for in the institution’s disaster contingency plan. Laboratory staff must have a disaster plan or must participate in the ORCAC disaster plan.
    • xii. All materials including food, medicine, bedding, etc. will be appropriately labeled and stored. This includes leak proof, sealable containers that are labeled with an expiration date (if applicable), the date of opening or receipt, and initials.
    • xiii. An appropriate sanitation program must be established for the housing space and all activity recorded.
    • xiv. A recording log for temperature, humidity, daily health checks, and husbandry activities is available through the ORCAC.

E. All areas where research animals may be used outside of the animal facilities (e.g., laboratories, procedures spaces, etc.) must be approved by the IACUC and listed on the approved protocol prior to any movement of the animals.

F. All areas where research animals have been approved by the IACUC for housing and use outside of the vivarium may be subjected to more frequent inspections.

G. The approval granted by the IACUC to house animals outside the vivariums can be revoked at any time should any of the conditions listed above not be met. Each event of noncompliance will be reviewed by the IACUC, and a determination for revocation will be made based on the details of each event. The ORCAC Veterinarian retains the authority to immediately relocate animals to the vivarium and assume care when animal welfare requires it.

H. The revocation of approval to house animals outside the vivarium will result in the immediate removal and relocation of animals to the vivarium. All costs associated with housing and care will be billed to the PI.