Jeanie Cooley was collecting fluid samples from catheterized hamsters that were housed in the Great Eastern University animal facility. It took her about 15 minutes to collect the samples, 10 minutes to transport the samples to her lab and another 15 minutes to prepare the samples for freezing. An hour later she began the entire process again. After four days of 12-hour cycles of running back and forth, she was exhausted and submitted a protocol amendment to the IACUC.
The amendment stated that three hamsters would be housed in Cooley's lab for no more than four days, the maximum needed sample collection time. The animals would be kept in three separate cages, all placed inside a large, custom-made, transparent plastic box that she had brought from her former institution. The box had a small ventilation fan that worked with a thermostat, ventilation holes, a 15-watt bulb with an automatically controlled light cycle and a small humidifier to be used only if needed. Cooley said she would open the box a few times a day to observe the animals and collect samples. At night, the lab lights would be turned off but a red task light was available for her to use.
The IACUC reviewed Cooley's written request, but before making a final decision, the committee sent an IACUC member and an animal facility supervisor to observe Cooley's lab and the box and report on their findings. The lab was a typical research lab used by multiple investigators, with Cooley's bench located toward the middle of the lab. The animal holding box was placed on a table in a work alcove of the lab. The alcove was separated from the main lab by a floor-to-ceiling light-proof curtain. Emergency power was available in the alcove. The lab's heat was lowered to 68 °F at night, and its air flow was reduced to six changes per hour. Animal facility personnel would observe the animals daily.
The report sent back to the IACUC indicated that no potential regulatory problems were found. But when the amendment went to designated member review, one of the reviewers thought that the proposed changes were more for convenience than for scientific necessity. He implied that if Cooley did not have the resources to do the study in the animal facility, then it should not be done at all. Furthermore, the IACUC office was unsure if the proposed amendment would create a new animal facility or if it constituted an IACUC-approved deviation from the recommendations of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals1 that had to be included in the semiannual report. What are your opinions on this problem facing the Great Eastern IACUC?
References
Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals 8th edn. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2011).
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Silverman, J. Temporary housing for hamsters. Lab Anim 43, 158 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.520
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.520
