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  • Protocol Review
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Response to Protocol Review Scenario: Retraining required

Lab Animal volume 40, pages 36–37 (2011)Cite this article

Covelli should be proud of the swift action the IACUC took in this instance, but he overreacted to the situation. His statement about hiding animal welfare or noncompliance issues “under the rug” from regulatory agencies is a path to the 'dark side'. Regulations exist to protect the animals and the research they represent, as well as the institution. Concealing the issue is counterproductive and harmful. If noncompliance issues or other problems are covered up and then discovered at a later date, it can be devastating. This is the fodder that activist extremists live for.

One of the IACUC's mandates is to ensure that research is done in accordance with regulations and with the utmost concern for the care and well-being of the animals involved. Open discussion is vital in these sessions, so that concerns can be brought forth and acted upon, and a record should be kept of all discussions in case a problem arises at a later date. Anything said at an IACUC meeting is subject to review, and occasionally, the IACUC may find that it has not been given all of the information that it needed. But upon discovery of such gaps, the IACUC has the opportunity to remedy the situation and self-report. Given the opportunity, most investigators will comply with rules and regulations.

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References

  1. Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. Guidance on Prompt Reporting to OLAW. NOT OD-05-034. (National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC; 24 February 2005; updated 15 April 2010).

  2. ARENA/OLAW. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook 2nd edn. 27 (Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, Bethesda, MD, 2002).

  3. Animal Welfare Act Regulations, 9 CFR (Section 2.32).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Croxford is Training Facilitator and Smiley is Senior Veterinarian in the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.,

    Ellen J. Croxford &  Jeffrey R. Smiley

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  1. Ellen J. Croxford
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  2. Jeffrey R. Smiley
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Croxford, E., Smiley, J. Response to Protocol Review Scenario: Retraining required. Lab Anim 40, 36–37 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0211-36b

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