Animal Care and Use at Stetson University
(Revised September 2013)
Background: This document is for Stetson University faculty members and
students whose proposed or on-going training, research, or teaching (hereafter, referred to
as “a study”) uses live vertebrate animals. It outlines the procedure for preparing and
submitting an application for a study’s approval to Stetson’s Institutional Animal Care
and Use Committee (IACUC).
Until the mid-20th century, no widespread guidelines for animal experimentation
existed in the United States. Several groups interested in animal welfare expressed
concern about the pain and suffering of live vertebrate animals during studies. The
United States Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act in response to these concerns to
ensure that the use of live vertebrate animals in such studies is in fact necessary and that
these animals are humanely treated and properly housed and fed during a study.
The Animal Welfare Act acknowledged that, in some instances, studies involving
live vertebrate animals are necessary to enhance the understanding of biological
processes. Organizations that use live vertebrate animals in studies, particularly those
that receive any federal funds for scientific experimentation, must establish policies that
ensure that the organizations meet this law’s directives.
The Animal Welfare Act pertains to any human intervention into the lives of live
vertebrate animals or their natural environments. These interventions include physically
handling, training, feeding, housing, or restraining such animals or altering their natural
environments in any way. The only exception involves investigators observing animals
without interfering with them, their activities, or their natural environments in any
manner.
The Animal Welfare Act requires that anyone who intervenes in the lives of live
vertebrate animals or their environments complete training provided by an institution that
has an Assurance from the Office of Laboratory Welfare (OLAW). This mandate
pertains to investigators, staff members and students working with investigators, and
laboratory managers maintaining the animals.
The necessity of using live vertebrate animals in some studies and Stetson
University’s goal of conducting such studies on campus in ways that minimize the
animals’ pain and suffering prompted the University to prepare an Assurance of
Compliance for Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory
Animals (hereafter, known as the Assurance). The Federal Office of Laboratory Animal
Welfare (OLAW) has approved Stetson’s Assurance. It meets the requirements of the
Animal Welfare Act (published in the Code of Federal Regulations [CFR], Title 9,
Chapter 1, Subchapter A, Parts 1, 2, and 3). Copies of Stetson’s Assurance and the
Animal Welfare Act are available through Stetson’s duPont-Ball Library.
Stetson University’s Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC): The IACUC
oversees the policies of the Assurance and reports to the Institutional Officer, who is
responsible to OLAW for compliance with the Assurance. Stetson University’s
Institutional Officer is Dr. Karen Ryan, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
As a condition of the Assurance, the Institutional Officer periodically appoints
members to the IACUC. This committee comprises four Stetson faculty members, a
veterinarian, and two members of the broader community who have no affiliation with
Stetson University. The current members of the IACUC are as follows:
Dr. David Stock, Professor of Biology and Chair of the IACUC
Dr. Melissa Gibbs, Associate Professor of Biology
Dr. Ronald Hall, Professor of Philosophy
Dr. Diane Everett, Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences
Dr. J. Emmett Smith, Veterinarian and Small Animal Specialist
Mr. David Hartgrove, community representative and retired linesperson for a power
company
Ms. Renate Calero, community representative and retired office worker
IACUC’s Charge: The IACUC is charged with these responsibilities:
1) Train all members of the Stetson University community whose studies involve
live vertebrate animals to ensure that the investigators adhere to the
Assurance’s guidelines;
2) Review all Stetson University facilities that are used to house and handle live
vertebrate animals, twice a year;
3) Review and approve or not approve all proposed studies involving live
vertebrate animals submitted by members of the Stetson University
community to the IACUC;
4) Review all on-going studies and their protocols that the IACUC has already
approved, twice a year;
5) Review and approve or not approve any significant changes in the protocols
for the handling of live vertebrate animals in on-going studies that the IACUC
has already approved;
6) Ensure that all handling and maintenance of live vertebrate animals follow the
declarations in the studies approved by the IACUC.
Training: All individuals who will be working with live vertebrate animals in
Stetson University facilities must complete training before they may submit an
application for a study’s approval to the IACUC and before they may work with these
animals. The IACUC will not review applications submitted by individuals who have not
completed training. In some circumstances, Stetson’s IACUC Institutional Officer, in
consultation with the IACUC members, may waive the requirement for training for those
investigators who transfer from other recognized sites where they have completed similar
training.
The IACUC offers training twice during the academic year: once in midSeptember and again in late February. The training session introduces participants to the
Animal Welfare Act and its provisions, proper handling of the live vertebrate animals
used most frequently at Stetson, and the potential for the spread of zoonoses (diseases
spread by non-human vertebrates). The IACUC will announce the date, time, and place
of training to all Stetson faculty members and students whose studies involve live
vertebrate animals. Those who attend training must attend the entire session to obtain
credit for having completed training. Late-comers will not receive credit for having
completed training; will be ineligible for submitting an application for a study’s approval
to the IACUC; and will be ineligible for conducting studies involving live vertebrate
animals on Stetson’s campus.
Application for a Study’s Approval for Training or Research Involving Live
Vertebrate Animals at Stetson University: All individuals proposing to use live
vertebrate animals in their training, teaching, or research at Stetson University must
submit a complete application to the IACUC for review and approval. The form and
procedure for submitting an application appear below. However, before the IACUC will
review an application, those individuals whose studies involve live vertebrate animals
must complete the IACUC training in its entirety.
Furthermore, the IACUC may require some applicants to be medically evaluated
and to present evidence of a current tetanus vaccination before the IACUC will review an
application. Applicants should consult the Chair of the IACUC in the early stages of
project design to determine whether their health status must be evaluated. Moreover,
applicants are strongly encouraged to learn about the guidelines IACUC follows to
evaluate applications by reading the National Research Council’s publication Guide for
the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (8th ed., 2011; hereafter, referred to as the
Guide). This document is available at Stetson’s duPont-Ball Library.
The IACUC will scrutinize all aspects of proposed studies that involve live
vertebrate animals, particularly if applicants propose sacrificing these animals. Because
the IACUC is averse to sacrificing animals, applicants should present a compelling case
for doing so. Following a study’s approval and during the course of the training,
teaching, or research project, the IACUC may inspect the animals involved in the study at
any time while those animals are in Stetson facilities.
To submit an application to the IACUC for its consideration, please follow the
instructions on the “Stetson University Application to the Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee for Approval of a Research Study Involving the Use of Live Vertebrate
Animals,” which appears below. Only applications from those who have completed the
IACUC training in its entirety and who submit a complete application by the announced
deadline will be considered. Please submit applications (in a Word document)
electronically to the IACUC Chair (dstock@stetson.edu). The Chair will acknowledge
the receipt of all applications and will notify applicants of the committee’s decision
regarding their proposed studies (i.e., approve, revise and resubmit, or not approve). The
IACUC will approve proposed studies that indicate compliance with the guidelines in the
Guide and with the Animal Welfare Act. Such approval may be contingent upon minor
modifications to the proposed protocol. The IACUC may require an investigator to
revise and resubmit a proposal that does not fully comply with the Guide and with the
Animal Welfare Act, if the proposed study can be modified to meet compliance without
substantially changing its integrity. A proposed study that does not fully comply with the
Guide and with the Animal Welfare Act and that cannot be modified to meet compliance
without substantially changing its integrity will not be approved.
Submission of Reports to the IACUC: Investigators and faculty members
supervising students whose studies last more than six months must submit the IACUC
Continuing Review Form semi-annually, in late November or early December and in
April. The IACUC Chair will distribute the form to investigators electronically.
Applicants must return the completed form electronically to the IACUC Chair
(dstock@stetson.edu), who will distribute the form to the IACUC members for review.
Likewise, at the end of study, applicants will follow the same procedure.
Reference Materials Available at Stetson’s duPont-Ball Library: Applicants are
urged to review the following documents, available at the library on Stetson University’s
DeLand campus:
1. Title 9 – Animals and Animal Products: Chapter 1, Subchapter A, Parts 1, 2, and 3 –
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture (Animal
Welfare Act).
2. Education and Training in the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: A Guide for
Developing Institutional Programs. 1991. National Academy Press, Washington,
DC.
3. Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Research Animals. 1997.
National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
4. Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. 2002.
Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
5. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th Ed. 2011. National Research
Council, Washington, DC. (The Guide).
Stetson University
Application to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for
Approval of a Research Study Involving Live Vertebrate Animals
(Revised September 2013)
Process for submitting an application to Stetson University’s Institutional Animal
Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for approval of a research study involving live
vertebrate animals: This application should be completed by all members of the
Stetson University community whose proposed or on-going training, research, or
teaching (hereafter, referred to as “a study”) uses live vertebrate animals (hereafter,
referred to as “animals”). Please submit your application for the IACUC’s approval.
Please submit all materials electronically in Microsoft Office documents to the IACUC
Chair (dstock@stetson.edu) by the announced deadline. Applications received after the
announced deadline will be reviewed in the next review cycle.
Upon receipt of your application, the IACUC Chair will check it and return it to you, with
suggested changes and another deadline, if it is incomplete or unclear. If the application
is complete and clear upon first submission or upon re-submission, the IACUC Chair will
distribute your application electronically to the other IACUC members, and all members
will review your application at the next IACUC meeting. The IACUC Chair will
communicate the committee’s decision to the applicant.
Application for IACUC Approval of a Research Study
Involving Live Vertebrate Animals
Date:
Name:
Email address:
Telephone number (with area code):
Status at Stetson:
☐ Faculty member
☐ Student ------------
Faculty mentor’s name:
Faculty mentor’s email address:
Faculty mentor’s telephone extension:
Title of your proposed study:
1. In the chart below, list by both its common and scientific name each type of
animal you propose to use; state the number of each type of animal you
intend to use; and indicate whether each animal is native to Florida. Attach
additional pages, as necessary.
Common name of
each type of animal
Scientific name of
each type of animal
Number of each type
of animal
Native to
Florida?
Yes
No
On separate sheets of page, answer each question below. You may use an outline format
to address these questions; please use the question numbers and letters and answer the
items in the order in which they appear below.
2.
Animal housing and feeding:
a.
Indicate in which campus building(s) and room(s) the animals will be
housed.
b.
Describe each container to be used to house each animal, including each
container’s dimensions and volume. If multiple animals are to be housed
in one container, indicate the number per container and the types of
animals in each container, if the types of animals vary.
c.
State how you will maintain a record of the animal(s) in each container.
d.
Describe your protocol for cleaning each container, including how often
each of these tasks will occur: change litter, remove waste, change water,
and clean the container itself.
e.
Describe how you will dispose of waste material.
f.
Describe how you will clean and disinfect the floors, counter tops, and
cabinets surrounding the study’s animals.
g.
Identify the items that will be attached to or placed on or in each container
and the volume of space each item will occupy. If the container is a fish
tank, state the type and brand of filters to be used to maintain water
quality.
h.
Specify each animal’s diet content and brand.
i.
Indicate each animal’s feeding schedule as none, daily, ad libitum, or
other. If it is none or other, explain.
j.
Indicate where the records for each animal’s feeding and watering
schedule will be maintained.
k.
Identify who will care for the animals, if you are unavailable to do so.
Provide the person’s name, email address, and telephone number on each
container.
(Note: Records pertaining to 2 c, d, f, i, and j must be accessible for IACUC inspection.)
3.
Treatment of animals during and after your research project:
a.
In no more than two paragraphs, explain why you propose to use animals
in your research project. Cite primary literature in your explanation.
b.
In a layperson’s terms (i.e., without the use of jargon), provide a detailed,
chronological description of how you plan to manipulate the animals. As
necessary, include figures to illustrate any unusual devices or complex
manipulations.
c.
Describe how you will minimize the animals’ discomfort.
d.
Describe your protocol for monitoring each animal’s health for the study’s
duration.
e.
Discuss whether, why, and how often each animal may require veterinary
intervention.
f.
Describe how you will deal with each of these unexpected problems:
animals contracting a disease, pests in their feed, and pests in their living
spaces.
g.
State how each animal will be treated at the study’s end—that is, will it
live or be sacrificed? If it will live, describe what will happen to each
animal. (Note: Native animals must be returned to their point of capture
and released.) If it will be sacrificed, describe how and explain why that
will be done.
4.
Final comments: If necessary, provide any additional information that is
relevant to the IACUC’s evaluation of your application.
For IACUC use only:
Date initial application received:
Date IACUC Chair reviewed the application:
Date IACUC Chair communicated with the applicant re. need for revision, if applicable:
Date re-submitted application received, if applicable:
Date IACUC Chair distributed the application to IACUC members, if applicable:
Date IACUC Chair informed the applicant of decision:
Decision: