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Laboratory Animal Care
Service
Animal Procurement The Kansas State University Laboratory Animal Care Service (LACS) has facilities to maintain most types of laboratory research animals and will do so for any University investigator in any department who wishes professional animal care. Experimental animals may be procured from any licensed commercial vendor through the Division of Biology office, Room 231, or other departmental offices using a standard purchase order. Animals may also be ordered through the Animal Resource Facility (ARF) at the College of Veterinary Medicine. All investigators wishing to utilize LACS must have, on file, a current Institutional Animal Care and Use (IACUC) protocol and, when appropriate, a current Insitutional BioSafety Committee (IBC) protocol. Under no circumstances will animals be housed within LACS facilities without the investigator possessing a current IACUC protocol. Per University guidelines, investigators wishing to order additional animals (more than 10% but less than 25% of the number approved) must write an addendum to the IACUC protocol. Investigators wishing to increase the number of animals by more than 25% of the number originally approved must submit a new protocol to the IACUC.
Animal Husbandry Animals are cared for and housed in a manner consistent with the requirements as set forth in the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). LACs facilities are currently restricted to Ackert Hall, which predominately houses rodents, and Burt Hall which predominately houses birds, ruminants, and other miscellaneous animals. LACS maintains no other facilities at this time and will assume no responsiblity for any animals housed outside of currently approved facilities. Standard cages and associated equipment are provided from the LACS equipment pool. All rodents are housed in standard rodent cages, but within special stainless steel rodent isolator racks within Ackert Hall. No rodents are maintained on wire except when special metabolic studies warrant such housing. Investigators requiring special caging or large numbers of cages that are not available from the pool, or investigators using animals that require special care, are urged to contact LACS personnel for consultation before submitting a protocol for institutional review. Whenever the housing needs of the investigator exceed the capability of LACS, the responsibility for acquiring additional cages will be the responsibility of the investigator. Cage cards will be provided by LACS and will routinely display the following information: the investigator's name, department, IACUC protocol number, telephone and account numbers, animal's shipping date, receipt date, vendor, strain, sex and weight or age. Any special characteristics (such as timed-pregnancy) are also listed. Animal carcasses are placed in plastic bags and stored in the freezer in Ackert 407 for short-term holding. They are eventually autoclaved prior to disposal by appropriate University officials. Waste that is considered hazardous or toxic is handled as directed by the Institutional Biosafety Officer. Hazardous waste is usually double-bagged, boxed, labeled as to the identity of the hazard, and incinerated. Appropriate disposal protective clothing is worn while collecting the hazardous waste and then disposed of with the waste. LACS personnel are motivated to provide excellent animal care support to KSU investigators, but occasionally errors may occur. Good communication will alleviate or minimize most problems. Investigators are urged to tell LACS personnel what aspects of their animal usage protocol are critical. If a problem arises, investigators should discuss the problem with the supervisor of the area where the incident occurred. If the problem is not promptly resolved or recurs, the investigator should notify the Director of LACS. For cases in which a satisfactory resolution cannot be arrived at with the Director, the IACUC Chair should be notified and the investigator will be given an opportunity to present the complaint to the IACUC.
Veterinary Care All animals under LACS care are inspected daily by LACS personnel 365 days of the year. The University attending veterinarian, or designated representative, inspects all animals at least monthly. Special preventive health care and veterinary medical care of animals is available through the KSU Veterinary school on request; however, there will be a charge for this service. All animal rooms are inspected on a routine basis twice per year by the IACUC. Spontaneous deaths of animals occasionally occur and these are recorded on the cage cards. Investigators will be notified immediately if requested. The pathology staff of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology will, on request, conduct diagnostic necropsies on animals that die. Either LACS or the campus veterinarian may also order a necropsy because of actual or suspected infectious disease. Fees for the necropsy service will be paid for by the investigator. NOTE: If LACS personel have concerns about the health of any animal, the director or assistant director of LACS reserve the right to notify and/or consult the attending veterinarian at any time.
Fees Routine rodent cage changing will be a minimum of once a week, occasionally twice depending upon housing conditions, and will occur the same time each week. Exceptions may occur during holidays, when cages may be changed ahead of the regular schedule. Extra cage changes may be necessary for special circumstances and could incur extra charges. In addition, special diets, weaning, autoclaving, and breeding services may also require additional fees. Routine animal care charges are as follows (revised 2007):
NOTE: Charges will typically double if immunosuppressed animals other than those listed above are involved, or if special autoclaving, isolation procedures, breeding or weaning conditions are needed. No dogs, cats, or rabbits are housed in LACS facilities and the Animal Resource Facility (ARF) must be contacted concerning such animals. No facilities exist to house primates, or perform BSL-3 activities with the animals, at KSU. Animals are counted at the time of cage changing. This count will be used as each day's count until the next cage change. If a large number of animals are euthanized or received between cage changes, the count will be adjusted to show this change. The LACS should be notified prior to any en mass necropsies, and whenever animals are removed from the facilities for any significant length of time.
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