Elizabethtown College Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
ANIMAL PROTOCOL FORM
Animal welfare regulations require that an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
review and approve all activities utilizing vertebrate animals in research and teaching prior to
their starting. This includes review of any significant changes during ongoing activities. Each
approved protocol must be reviewed by the IACUC at least annually.
The information requested below is necessary for the IACUC to fulfill its responsibility of
oversight and evaluation of animal care and usage at Elizabethtown College as described in the
“Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” (National Research Council, 1996). This
form should be completed only after reading the “Guidelines for Writing an Animal Protocol”,
which is available in the IACUC folder. Questions may be directed to Dr. Jodi Yorty,
yortyj@etown.edu, x1325.
Please type or insert your responses in the space provided after each question. You must
submit a separate protocol for each species proposed for use. Within a given species, you may
include information for multiple research or teaching experiments. Completed proposals should
be sent to Dr. Jodi Yorty, Department of Biology. You will be notified regarding acceptance of
the protocol or if modifications are required by the IACUC.
1. PROJECT/STUDY TITLE
A demographic study of aquatic turtles in a rural setting
Protocol No. (if renewal or modification):
Protocol Type:
X Research
Type of Submission:
New
X Teaching
Modification
XRenewal
2. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Name
David R. Bowne
Phone
717-361-1317
Title
Assistant Professor
Fax
717-361-1243
Department
Biology
E-mail
bowned@etown.edu
3. OTHERS INVOLVED IN PROCEDURAL ACTIVITIES USING LIVE ANIMALS
(not including students taking laboratory courses)
Name(s)
Department
Phone
E-mail
Role on project
4. LOCATION OF ANIMAL RESEARCH
Indicate below the location(s) where animal research activities will take place.
Room Number(s)
Not applicable – research will be
conducted in the ponds on the
Elizabethtown College campus.
5. ACTIVE/ANTICIPATED SOURCE(S) OF FUNDING
PHS/NIH
Departmental
NSF
X
Elizabethtown College
Other _Start-up__________________
6. PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS (not including students taking a laboratory course)
List the name of each individual, including the PI, who will come into contact with the animals to be used
on this project. For each individual, describe the experience and qualifications to perform the procedures
listed in this protocol. Also, indicate whether they have received training classes for each animal species
they will work with, and if they have participated in the Occupational Health and Safety Program (OHSP).
Name(s)
David R. Bowne
Experience/Qualifications
14 years conducting field studies on
aquatic turtles
Techniques
Course
(yes/no)
No
OHSP
(yes/no)
No
2
7. HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND APPROVAL
Will the animals be exposed to radioactive materials, recombinant DNA, infectious agents, or known
carcinogens, mutagenic, teratogenic or toxic chemicals that may pose a risk to the animals, personnel
or other animals? If YES, complete the table below and explain the safety procedures to be followed
by personnel. If NO, proceed to section 8. NO.
Hazardous agent
Check all
that apply
Name of Agent
Recombinant DNA
Radioisotopes
Carcinogens
Mutagens
Infectious agents
Toxic chemicals
Teratogens
Explanation:
3
8. PROJECT SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Provide a lay summary or abstract of the project in this space.
I will conduct a mark-recapture study of aquatic turtles in Lake Placida and two unnamed ponds on
the Elizabethtown College campus. The purpose of the study is to estimate the population size of
turtle species in the lake and determine basic demographic information such as age distribution and
sex ratios. In addition to these population level data, I will also collect information on individual turtles
such as individual growth rates over time.
9. EXEMPTIONS
Check all that apply. Provide a scientific justification for each exemption checked in the space
below the table.
I request an exemption to allow:
Conditional method of
euthanasia
Multiple survival surgeries
Prolonged or
unconventional restraint
Food restriction
Water restriction
Deviation(s) from
standard care
Footpad injection
Death as an endpoint
Unrelieved pain or distress
Other:
Justifications:
4
10. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Provide a detailed description of all procedures in the project that involve live or dead animals, and/or
tissues or fluids obtained from animals. It is not necessary to include in vitro procedures. If any
procedures require an exemption, indicate by checking the appropriate boxes and provide a scientific
justification in the previous section.
Turtles will be collected by use of a hoop trap baited with sardines. A hoop trap consists of three metal
hoops connected with nylon netting. A funnel opening allows turtles to enter the trap but not escape.
The trap is set with enough air space to allow the turtles to surface and breath. Traps will be set for
three days and checked daily. Upon capture, the carapace (dorsal shell) and plastron (ventral shell)
will be measured with calipers and its mass determined using a hanging scale. Individuals will be
given a unique indentifying mark and then released at point of capture. Basking turtles such as the
painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) will be marked by filing a notch into the side of the shell. Snapping
turtles (Chelydra serpentina) will be marked by drilling a small hole in the posterior carapace and
securing a small aluminum tag with wire. Students will hold and measure the basking turtles, but for
sake of safety, will not handle the snapping turtle. The professor will be the only person to physically
handle snapping turtles. All of these methodologies satisfy the “Guidelines for use of live amphibians
and reptiles in field research” published by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
(1987).
5
11. ENDPOINTS AND EUTHANASIA (If Applicable)
If any of the experimental procedures outlined above may result in extreme distress or
unrelieved pain (e.g., tumor studies, inoculation with infectious agents, etc.), provide criteria (i.e.,
endpoints) for timely intervention and euthanasia or removal from the study. Also describe the
euthanasia method(s) to be used and the reasons for its selection. Include the name of the drug, dosage,
and route of administration. Check the appropriate box to indicate if this method is consistent with the
recommendations of the 2007 American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines on Euthanasia
(http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf). If the method is not consistent with
these recommendations, or is conditionally acceptable (e.g., cervical dislocation or decapitation
without prior anesthesia or tranquilization), provide a scientific justification in section 9 for its use.
Endpoints:
Euthanasia method(s):
Acceptable method of euthanasia
Conditional method of euthanasia (*Check exemption under Section 9 above and provide
scientific justification.)
6
12. ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIA
Our institution does not condone any project involving pain without anesthesia/analgesia. The
following three items must be addressed for any project involving potentially painful procedures:
A.
B.
CATEGORIZATION OF POTENTIAL PAIN OR DISTRESS:
apply)
(Check ALL categories that
(1)
X
No pain or distress. Examples: behavior studies, breeding colonies, animal
holding, etc. (If this is the only category checked, proceed to section 13.) [Category B]
(2)
Animals will only be subjected to brief, minor discomfort and do not require
anesthetics, analgesics or tranquilizers. Examples: euthanasia followed by tissue
harvest, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous or intraperitoneal injection of drugs;
venipuncture to collect blood samples. (If this is the only category checked, proceed to
section 13.) [Category C]
(3)
Animals will receive anesthetics for restraint only; no painful procedure will be
done. (If this category is checked, answer part B below.) [Category C]
(4)
Animals will receive anesthetics, analgesics, and/or tranquilizers to minimize or
alleviate pain or distress. (If this category is checked, answer parts B and C below.)
[Category D]
(5)
Animals may experience pain or distress greater than that induced by routine
injection or venipuncture but will not receive anesthetics or analgesics or tranquilizers,
since this will adversely affect the study. A scientific justification must be provided
in Section 9 above. (If this category is checked, answer parts B and C below.)
[Category E]
ANESTHETICS AND ANALGESICS USED:
(1) Describe the procedures for ensuring that discomfort, distress, pain, and injury will be limited
to that which is unavoidable in the conduct of scientifically sound research. List the name of
drug(s), dosage, route, frequency of administration, and indication (e.g., blood collection, tail
amputation for genotyping, surgical procedure, analgesia, etc.) for all anesthetics, analgesics
and tranquilizers to be used in the project.
Drug
Dose
Route
Frequency
Indication
7
(2) Provide examples of the clinical signs or indications for the use of analgesics:
C. For any procedures categorized as D or E above, the investigator must make a good faith effort to
determine whether there are alternative methods or procedures which may cause less pain and
distress. Thus, the investigator must perform a literature search for viable alternative methods, and/or
consult the Animal Welfare Information Center (http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/). In addition, the
investigator must include the concepts of refinement, reduction and replacement in order to minimize
animal pain and distress when it cannot be eliminated.
8
13. JUSTIFICATION OF ANIMAL USE
A.
ANIMAL SPECIES/STRAIN TO BE USED:
Species
Strain/Stock
Age/Sex
Est. number for 12
month period
following approval
Total number for
entire project
Chrysemys
picta
(painted turtle)
Whomever are in Whomever are in Whomever are in
the pond
the pond
the pond
Chelydra
serpentina
(snapping turtle)
Whomever are in Whomever are in Whomever are in
the pond
the pond
the pond
*NOTE: The use of additional animals cannot be permitted without further IACUC review and
approval.
B.
RATIONALE FOR INVOLVING ANIMALS IN THIS STUDY:
(1) Provide a rationale for using animals (i.e., why must animals be used instead of in vitro
methods).
The goal of the research is to increase our understanding of how individual turtles and turtle
populations respond to a rural landscape. This cannot be accomplished without studying the
whole organism.
(2) A statement that alternatives to the use of animals have been considered must be included.
In order to study how turtles persist in the environment, I have to study turtles in the
environment.
(3) Why was the proposed species of animal chosen?
They live in the campus lake and little is known about the ecology of freshwater turtles in
rural/town landscapes.
9
(4) Provide a justification for the approximate numbers of animals to be used. For some projects,
a statistical method of justification (i.e., power analysis) may be appropriate.
Because the goal of the study is to estimate population size, the closer to a complete census
(capture of all animals) I can achieve will give a better result.
10
14. NONDUPLICATION:
A complete and thorough literature search must be done to verify that the proposed animal
research activities do not duplicate previous experiments unnecessarily.
X
Literature search was conducted.
Name(s) of database searched:
Academic Search Premier
Date of search (must be within 90 days of protocol review):
Years covered by search:
February 27, 2012
1985-2012
Keywords or search strategies used:
”Chrysemys” and “landscape.”
This search yielded 6 publications, including one of my own. The studies varied in questions
asked and the habitats in which data were collected. My proposed research does not
duplicate any of these studies.
15.
VETERINARY CARE
Elizabeth Carney, DVM and Assistant Professor and Clinical Veterinarian in the Department of
Comparative Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, oversees the veterinary
care of animals at Elizabethtown College and must be consulted in the planning and execution of
potentially painful or distressful procedures.
11
16. CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
By my signature, as Principal Investigator I recognize that I am responsible for the conduct of all
animal-related activities related to this protocol by myself and all persons under my supervision. I
further assure as Principal Investigator the following:

The proposed research does not unnecessarily duplicate previously reported research.

All individuals named in this application who have animal contact will participate in the
Occupational Health and Safety Program (OHSP).

The information provided in this application accurately summarizes the nature and extent of
the proposed use of animals. If the work is funded by an extramural source, I assure that this
application accurately reflects all procedures involving animal subjects as described in the
application to the noted funding agency.

I will obtain review and approval from the IACUC before initiating any changes in the approved
protocol.

All applicable rules and regulations regarding radiation protection, biosafety, chemical hazards
and recombinant DNA issues have been addressed in the preparation of this application and
the appropriate reviews have been initiated.

I assure that all staff, faculty, and students involved with this project are qualified or will be
trained to conduct the project in a humane and scientific manner.
Signature of Principal Investigator
Protocol Approval Date Protocol # -
Date