It's both a new animal facility and a deviation from the recommendations of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide)1. Hamsters are a USDA-regulated species, and housing them in Cooley's lab for up to four days would create an animal study area as defined by the Animal Welfare Act and Regulations (AWARs)2. As such, the Great Eastern University IACUC would be responsible for inspecting the area, as is required for all animal areas, during the semiannual facility inspection. The scenario states that an IACUC member and an animal facility supervisor were sent to observe Cooley's lab and describe their findings. If the animal facility supervisor isn't a member of the Great Eastern University IACUC, then this inspection would not meet the requirements of the AWARs for conducting evaluations of the research facility. This requirement states, “The IACUC may use subcommittees composed of at least two Committee members and may invite ad hoc consultants to assist in conducting the evaluations...”2. The scenario provides some details of the inspection's findings but doesn't address certain requirements of an animal area such as food storage, water, temperature control (to prevent over-heating), documentation of temperature and humidity levels, cage space requirements, documentation of husbandry procedures or sanitization of the area including the animal caging. Reducing the air flow to six changes per hour is a deviation from the recommendations of the Guide, which lists an acceptable range of 10–15 fresh air changes per hour in animal housing rooms1.
The limited information provided in this scenario creates additional questions that the Great Eastern University IACUC must address before it can provide approval for this protocol amendment. Would the small ventilation fan used in the box create a noise issue for the animals? Is the number of hours of light provided by the 15-watt bulb appropriate for hamsters? Does the light bulb provide sufficient illumination (lux) for hamsters? Does the floor-to-ceiling light-proof curtain used to separate the hamsters from the main lab also reduce noises from the main lab? What is the temperature setting during the day, and is this within the acceptable ranges for hamsters listed in the Guide (68–79 °F)1? Finally, what is done with the animals after the four days of fluid collections? The proposed amendment should address these questions; if it does not, the IACUC should ask for clarifications during its review of the amendment.
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