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RESEARCH POLICY SERIES
POLICY AND PROCEDURE STATEMENT ON
LABORATORY ANIMAL WELFARE
AT
AT MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY
PURPOSE
The use of laboratory animals is essential to teaching, testing, and
research, and must be considered a privilege, not a right, of the academic and scientific
communities. This policy and procedure is to ensure that animal care and use in biomedical
research and teaching on campus are in compliance with local, state, and federal laws,
regulations and polices concerning animal welfare.
REVIEW
This policy and procedure will be
reviewed as needed (AN) by the university Laboratory Animal Veterinarian and by the
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee with recommendations for revisions presented
to the Regulatory Compliance
Officer for review and transmission to the Vice President for Research.
POLICY/PROCEDURE
To ensure that animal care and use on
campus are in compliance with local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and policies,
the University Laboratory Animal Veterinarian (ULAV) has been established in the Office of
the Vice President for Research. This unit is a university-wide resource that provides or
oversees health care, and technical and scientific support and compliance oversight for
MSU programs using animals in biomedical research, testing and teaching.
The ULAV is advised on a university-wide basis by the Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee, a standing committee reporting to the Vice President for Research. The
committee is charged with (1) establishing and reviewing compliance with standards and
procedures relating to laboratory animal welfare, and (2) advising individuals and
agencies dealing with such animals.
University instructors and researchers planning projects that utilize vertebrate animals
in biomedical research, testing, and teaching must submit their proposed protocol to the
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for review and approval of animal care and use
aspects, including animal costs, during the planning process. Also, researchers seeking
outside funding for projects that utilize vertebrate animals must obtain IACUC approval
before funding can be awarded.
In addition to this policy and procedure, ULAV shall be responsible for and perform duties
in accord with its published "Users' Manual and Policies and Procedures" and
"Laboratory Animal Techniques" manuals. Copies of both documents are available
from the ULAV resident at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Note that the National
Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture require that certain
proposals involving the use of vertebrate animals contain sufficient information to allow
for evaluation of the choices of species, the number of animals to be used, alternative
and duplication considerations, necessary exposure of animals to discomfort, pain, or
injury, and of euthanasia.
OP 79.5
08/16/04
For information about this policy, contact the
reviewing department.
