Animal Maintenance
and Management
Feeding, care and cleaning are the only activities
to be performed within the animal rooms. Once these duties have been
completed, entry into these rooms should be kept to a minimum. Access
to the animal facilities will be limited to authorized personnel only.
All visitors to the facilities must be accompanied by authorized personnel.
Laboratory
animal facilities shall remain locked at all times.
Signs
should not be posted that identifies an area or building
as housing animals.
Authorized
personnel entering any animal facilities should wear appropriate
protective clothing to prevent the spread of disease.
Environmental problems in any animal room, (i.e., temperature, humidity, ventilation, leaking, etc.) should be reported to the IACP if assistance in solving the problems is necessary.
The illumination intensity on the top shelf of animal cage racks should be measured before housing albino animals on the top shelf. High illumination intensity may cause blindness in albino rats and mice.
No more than 12 dogs or cats may be held in one primary enclosure or room.
Proper management of animal facilities is essential for the welfare of animals, and validity of research data -- along with health and safety of the animal care staff. A good husbandry program provides a system of housing and care permitting animals to grow, mature, reproduce, and maintain good health. Good husbandry minimizes variations that can modify an animal's response to experimentation. Specific operating practices depend on many subjective and objective factors unique to individual institutions. Well-trained and motivated personnel help to ensure high quality animal care, even in facilities with less than optimal physical plant or equipment.
Security
Animal care personnel are the best security system. New persons
being hired should be screened very closely. Past work history can
be very important. Strangers around the facilities or asking questions
about the animals should be reported to the IACP, the Department Head/Chair,
and UNL police as soon as possible.
Doors leading to animal facilities shall be locked when unattended and should be keyed on high security keys. No signs should identify laboratory animal facilities or animal housing areas.
If animal care personnel receive threats of break-ins, or discover a break-in has occurred, they should notify UNL police immediately. If a break-in has occurred or is in progress, stay out of the area and away from the people involved. The area should not be disturbed until the police give permission.
Any group or individual requesting to tour the laboratory animal facilities should be directed to call the IACP.
Sanitation
Sanitation is essential in the maintenance of healthy animals.
In areas where animals are confined, resulting in build-up of excretory
materials, cleaning is necessary on a daily basis. This includes areas
where animals are managed in close confinement, in buildings allowing
for partial confinement and total confinement buildings. Animal rooms,
corridors, storage spaces and other areas must be cleaned regularly.
The sanitation program should involve cleaning and disinfecting where appropriate. This should be done on a frequent enough basis to avoid build up of debris and disease agents to the extent that it would be detrimental to the well-being of the animals. Animal rooms are to be sanitized (walls & floor wiped down with a disinfectant solution at least monthly).
Where cleaning equipment such as mops, pails and brooms are utilized, they should be kept clean and stored outside their designated animal rooms. They must be hung on the wall to dry, not set on the floor. In situations where bedding is used, it should be changed often enough to keep the animals clean and dry. Clean cages, metabolism crates and unused cage racks must not be stored in active animal rooms while animals are being held in these rooms.
Cages should be cleaned as soon as they are emptied. Cages should be sanitized before animals are placed in them. Bedding used in cages or pens should be changed as often as required to keep the animals clean, dry, and the rooms odor free. For routine maintenance of laboratory rodents, one to two bedding changes per week will probably be sufficient. For larger animals such as dogs and cats, soiled litter material should be removed daily. Animal waste removed by hosing or flushing should be done at least daily, twice daily when required.. Animals should be kept dry during such procedures.
Litter must be emptied from cages and pans in an area other than the animal rooms and in a manner minimizing exposure of personnel to airborne particles. If frequent cage cleaning is counterproductive, such as when pheromones are essential for reproduction or when research objectives may be compromised, exceptions to the regular cage-cleaning schedule may be instituted if approved by the IACUC as part of the protocol.
Extra cages should be available at all times so a systematic cage washing schedule can be maintained. Cages can be disinfected by rinsing at 82 degrees Celcius (180 F) for at least three minutes. Disinfection can also be accomplished with appropriate chemicals, but cages must be rinsed free of chemicals prior to use. Accumulations of detergents, acid-cleaning solutions, volatile decontamination vapors, and other cleaning and disinfection agents may be harmful to animals, personnel, and the environment, so appropriate protective measures must be taken.
Water bottles, drinking tubes, stoppers and other watering equipment should be washed and disinfected by rinsing with hot water (180 F) for three minutes or by use of appropriate chemical agents to destroy pathogenic organisms.
Some means for sterilizing equipment and supplies, such as an autoclave or gas sterilizer, is essential when pathogenic organisms are present or for some specialized animal care facilities. Routine sterilization of food and bedding is essential for barrier operations. Where hazardous, biological agents are used, a system of equipment monitoring is required to ensure effective killing of biological agents when used.
Deodorizers or chemical agents must not be used to mask animal odors. Such products are not a substitute for cleaning, sanitation or disinfection and have been shown to alter basic physiology and metabolic processes thus introducing unwanted variables to research data collection.
Ammonia or animal odors in a room can be prevented by:
- More frequent cleaning of cages and equipment
- Increasing air flow
- Reducing the number of animals in the room
Waste containers and implements must be cleaned frequently. All waste containers used for animal disposal or animal bedding disposal are to have disposable liners and tight fitting lids and be washed after each use with a disinfectant and stored outside the animal rooms until required.
Vermin
Programs should be instituted to control, eliminate, or prevent
infestation by pests such as cockroaches, flies, and feral or escaped
rodents. The most effective program prevents entry of vermin into the
facility by screening openings, sealing cracks, and eliminating breeding
and refuge sites. Proper sanitation is very important in control measures.
Adequate control of a pest problem requires thorough knowledge of the pest and the available methods of control. The method(s) selected should be the most effective in controlling the pest with the least effect on humans, the environment, and especially the animals. Users, including technicians or supervisors, must have a thorough understanding of the control substance, its application and the relevant state and federal regulations. The Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA) specifies that anyone applying restricted-use pesticides must be certified by the state in which he/she lives. Nontoxic means of pest control, such as insect growth regulators and nontoxic amorphous silicia gel should be used. If traps are used, methods should be humane; traps used to catch pests alive require frequent observation and humane euthanasia after capture.
