One of the most popular clubs on the Great Eastern University campus was the Canine and Feline Exhibition Club, better known as the CAFE club. The club was open to any Great Eastern student who wanted to exhibit their pet in a traditional dog or cat show, or dog agility competitions. There were weekly meetings of the club where animal grooming, show information, health, training, and related topics were discussed. As with many other clubs on campus, the CAFE club had a faculty advisor who would provide advice and help club members as needed. However, the CAFE club’s advisor, Dr. Jeremy West, had an additional role in the club. West was very experienced at preparing and handling dogs and cats at regional and national shows and he often used his own or student animals to teach club members how to groom, train, and exhibit animals in shows.

In due time the Great Eastern IACUC office was informed about the activities of the CAFE club and asked if the club needed to have an IACUC protocol and approval for its animal training activities. The quick response from the office was no, these were privately-owned animals not used in any formal research or teaching, and therefore the IACUC did not need to become involved. But after some consideration, the director of the office began to have second thoughts. Dr. West was a university employee and the club met on university property. Although his teaching was not in a formal university course, there was no question that animals were being used in an informal teaching activity for university students. Still, the teaching activity was more geared toward exhibition purposes than research purposes, so the director was not sure if IACUC approval was or was not required.

What is your opinion? Why or why not would the CAFE club’s activities need IACUC approval?