Under the current circumstances, Fifi should remain classified as a Type C animal, as defined by the USDA, because of the use of the animal on Levine's animal behavior protocol. There are several reasons for our belief. First, the animal technically no longer belongs to Great Eastern but to the research technician. This is true because the research technician and Levine have completed all of Great Eastern's required paperwork, making the adoption official. Roman was only providing routine veterinary care of the animal; such care does not fall under any of the requirements in the Animal Welfare Regulations to be reported to the USDA. Second, there is no requirement that all animals housed at a research institution have to be covered by a protocol. The USDA only requires animals that will be or have been used for experiments, teaching, research, surgery, or tests to be included in the annual report. The adoption procedure, including the spay, which we define as a routine veterinary procedure that involves a privately owned animal, does not fit into this definition. Therefore, the only category that applies to Fifi is Category C, because of her use on Levine's protocol.

Even though we feel that to be in compliance there is not a requirement for Great Eastern to have a protocol that would cover animals in situations like Fifi's, we believe that a University holding protocol that would include the adoption procedure would make this process less confusing in the future. Routine veterinary procedures required for adoption, such as spays and neuters, though not required to be described, should be a part of the protocol. It is our opinion that all animals listed under this protocol would merit reporting only under the experimental or teaching protocols on which they were used or reported as Type B animals if they are awaiting study. We believe that this would not only provide Great Eastern a mechanism to have all animals housed at the University covered under a protocol, but it would also provide an additional mechanism to track animals that are still alive but have completed their use and are waiting to be adopted. In addition, this protocol could allow the tracking of animals that have been adopted in case there is ever a question about the disposition of an animal in the future.