Rationale:

Care of all research animals at UT Southwestern will be consistent with standards developed by this institution to meet the goals of its Animal Care and Use Program, regardless of location.  The goals of this program are:

• to meet the regulatory requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (enforced by the USDA), the Public Health Service Policy ( enforced by OLAW), and funding agencies;
• to maintain AAALAC accreditation; and
• to support high-quality research programs.

Occasionally, for scientific reasons, the IACUC may approve housing arrangements within and outside of traditional ARC areas, in which investigator (non-ARC) staff are responsible for day-to-day husbandry.

Definitions:

A PI-maintained colony is dedicated animal housing space, within or outside the ARC, in which a Principal Investigator’s (PIs) staff routinely provides daily husbandry requirements for the animals.  Permission for PI-Maintained Colonies is granted by the IACUC.

Laboratory housing is investigator space, outside of the ARC, in which animals are kept for periods of time longer than 12 hours, for scientific reasons, in accordance with an IACUC-approved protocol.

Policy:

The IACUC has authority to grant permission for PI-maintained colonies and for laboratory housing of animals.

All requests to create PI-maintained colonies must be submitted in writing and approved by the IACUC at a convened meeting with a quorum present.

All requests to house animals in a laboratory setting for periods exceeding 12 hours must be written into an IACUC protocol.  Such protocols can be approved at a convened meeting or by designated member review.  Addition of laboratory housing for an existing protocol also may be requested by amendment.

All animals in non-ARC animal care arrangements (whether PI-maintained colonies or laboratory housing) must receive an acceptable degree of institutional oversight by the veterinary staff.  This means, specifically, that care must be provided by the PI staff 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays, and the care must be documented on an ARC- provided log sheet (temperature, humidity, animal observations). 

Criteria:

PI-maintained Colony:

• The PI must have a strong scientific rationale or special husbandry requirements requiring PI oversight of animal holding rooms.
• If the request involves the maintenance of a mouse colony in an ARC vivarium, the PI must have a standing mouse colony of at least 600 cages of mice.  At IACUC’s discretion, smaller PI-maintained colonies may be permitted outside the ARC.
• If the request involves the maintenance of a rat colony in the ARC vivarium, the PI must have a standing rat colony of at least 250 cages of rats.  At IACUC’s discretion, smaller PI-maintained colonies may be permitted outside the ARC.
• PI technicians must be trained appropriately to provide animal husbandry in accordance with ARC standards.

Laboratory Housing:

• The Principal Investigator (PI) must have a strong scientific rationale or special protocol-related requirements justifying animal housing outside of a traditional animal holding room environment.
• The proposed laboratory housing space must be appropriate with regard to all applicable requirements, including: temperature, humidity, light cycles, air exchanges, security, and employee safety.
• Generally speaking, laboratory housing is intermittent, protocol-driven, and lasts for periods of less than 14 days per animal.  At IACUC’s discretion, periods longer than 14 days could be approved on a case-by-case basis.
• PI technicians must be trained appropriately to provide animal husbandry in accordance with ARC standards.

Applicability:

This policy applies to all animals under the jurisdiction of the UT Southwestern IACUC.

Instructions:

Requests to create PI-maintained colonies must be submitted in writing to the IACUC.

Requests to house animals in a laboratory setting for periods exceeding 12 hours must be written into an IACUC protocol or amendment.

Contact Information:

For any additional questions please contact the IACUC Manager at 5-6420.

Exceptions:

Exceptions to this policy may be granted by the IACUC.