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Section B
More Considerations and Proposed Activities
USDA Policy 11

Procedures involving animals will avoid or minimize discomfort,
distress, and/or pain

A painful procedure is defined as any procedure that would
reasonably be expected to cause more than slight or momentary
pain and/or distress in a human being
3
USDA Pain Categories

Category C—no pain, distress, or use of pain-relieving drugs

Category D—accompanying pain or distress for which appropriate
anesthetic, analgesic, or tranquilizing drugs are used

Category E—accompanying pain or distress for which use of drugs
would adversely affect research outcome
4
USDA Policy 12

Principal investigators must consider alternatives (reduction,
refinement, or replacement) to procedures that may cause more
than momentary or slight pain or distress to the animals and provide
a written narrative of methods used and sources consulted
5
When Does an Alternative Search Need to Be Done?

An alternative search must be done for any procedure that causes
more than momentary pain or distress (either relieved or
unrelieved) (Categories D and E)
6
Written Narrative for Alternatives

Written narratives for alternatives to painful procedures must
include the following:
-  Databases searched or other sources used
-  Date of search
-  Years covered by the search
-  Key words used/search strategy
7
More Refinement Considerations: Humane Endpoints

Humane endpoints—euthanizing an animal prior to death in order to
minimize pain and/or distress while preserving the scientific
integrity of the study
8
More Refinement Considerations: Humane Endpoints

Humane endpoints—common scenarios where they may be
considered
-  Tumor biology or carcinogenesis studies
-  Genetically modified animal models
-  Infectious disease studies
-  Toxicity testing
9
Euthanasia Considerations

AVMA guidelines on euthanasia
-  Minimum pain, distress, anxiety, or apprehension
-  Minimum delay until unconsciousness
-  Reliability and irreversibility
-  Safety of personnel; emotional effect on personnel
-  Compatibility with requirement and purpose
-  Compatibility with species, age, and health status
-  Drug availability and human abuse potential
10
Euthanasia Considerations—Acceptable Methods

Barbiturates (DEA-controlled)

Benzocaine HCl (fish, amphibians)

CO2 (bottled gas only)

CO (bottled gas only) (worker safety issues)

Inhalant anesthetics

Microwave irradiation (mice, rats)
11
Euthanasia Considerations—Acceptable Methods

Penetrating captive bolt (swine, horses, ruminants)

2-phenoxyethanol (fish)

Tricaine methanesulfonate (fish, amphibians)

KCl (intracardially or IV in conjunction with general anesthesia)
12
Euthanasia—Conditionally Acceptable Methods

Cervical dislocation (birds, small rodents, and rabbits)

Decapitation (rats, mice, birds)

Pithing (some ectotherms)

Some pharmacological agents in some species
13
Euthanasia Considerations—Unacceptable Methods

Air embolism

Chloroform, cyanide (danger to personnel)

Decompression

Neuromuscular blockers

Dry ice generated CO2
14
Other Relevant IACUC Topics








Agricultural research
Antibody production
Breeding colonies
Field studies
Hazardous materials
Instructional use of animals
Surgery
Genetically modified animals
15
Other Relevant IACUC Topics



Post approval monitoring
Retrospective reporting of adverse effects
Over-interpretation of regulations—the more is better principle
16
Handout

The handout is available from the Online Library section of the
lecture page
17
IACUC Training

IACUC 101/201 workshops

IACUC advanced workshops (Scientists Center for Animal Welfare—
SCAW)

Meeting the information requirements of the Animal Welfare Act
(Animal Welfare Information Center, USDA)

SCAW annual conference

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) annual
IACUC conference
18
Some Internet Resources

Altweb (Johns Hopkins University)
-  http://altweb.jhsph.edu/

Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (NIH)
-  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm

AAALAC International
-  http://www.aaalac.org/

Animal Welfare Information Center (USDA)
-

http://awic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?
info_center=3&tax_level=1
Institute for Laboratory Animal Research
-  http://dels.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarhome/
19
Some Internet Resources

Animal Welfare Act
-  http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/AWA2007/awa.shtml

IACUC.org
-  http://www.iacuc.org/

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R)
-  http://www.primr.org/

Scientists Center for Animal Welfare (SCAW)
-
http://www.scaw.com/
20