When it comes to laboratory conditions, just as much effort goes into caring for the animals as goes into the research.
The University Laboratory Animal Resources and the Institutional Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee use three publications as guidelines for animal care: The American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Research Council and the United States Department of Agriculture. Each publication stems from the Animal Welfare Act that was signed into law in 1966.
Regulatory guidelines must be met for cage size specifications, amount of lighting, temperature and anything else that affects the quality of life for the animal.
“We have to have everything regulated or our results would be skewed one way or another,” said ULAR director Dr. William Yonushonis.
To start a research project, an eight-page protocol must be filled out and approved by the ILACUC. The protocol details the reasons for the project, number of animals needed and why, anesthesia techniques, surgery procedures and euthanasia procedures.
“Determining the number of animals is always the hardest. We don’t want to use any more animals than is absolutely necessary,” said Debbie Forlicher, adviser for the ILACUC. She often helps the researcher fill out the protocol. “We are not here to keep research from happening. We are here to make sure animals and resources are used properly and efficiently.”
The ILACUC is made up of 18 volunteers who meet at least once a week to review research protocols. “The first thing I look at is the general description. It needs to be specific, and if it’s not, we’ll send it back to be rewritten,” said Richard Tallman, ILACUC chairman.
The ILACUC must also inspect every OSU animal research facility twice a year and write up a report for each inspection. The problem found most often is outdated drugs still in the cabinets, Tallman said.
“The people we deal with are very intelligent and do not want to waste our time or their own time,” he said.
Euthanasia receives a lot of scrutiny from animal rights groups. Most animals have to be euthanaized because the researchers have to see the effects on the internal organs, Yonushonis said. He said the majority of the research animals at OSU are euthanaized by using carbon dioxide.
According to AVMA’s 2000 report on euthanasia, carbon dioxide is an acceptable method if the appropriate concentrations are used, depending on the size of the animal. For example, 70-percent carbon dioxide concentration — normal room air contains .04 percent concentration — makes a mink unconscious, but does not kill it. A 33-percent concentration kills rats without evidence of stress.
Stress levels were measured by looking at behavior, glucose and corticosterone concentrations in the animals’ serum.
