Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Protocol Review
  • Published:

The Numbers Game

Lab Animal volume 52, page 54 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

This scenario involves two tracks of acquiring animals: via a vendor; and with an in-house breeding colony.

While it is upon the investigator to maintain and keep track of animals ordered, bred, and used, it would be beneficial to have a guideline in place that clarifies how the institution counts animals “used”. This would require some consultation and discussion between the IACUC and facility staff who track animal usage within the facilities to ensure the policy reflects how animals are counted and reported in the census. The guideline could also include examples of acceptable justifications for increasing animal numbers when needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Title 9 CFR, Chapter 2, Subpart C – Research Facilities, Section 2.31 (e) (2)

  2. Public Health Service. PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 2015).

  3. OLAW, Is the IACUC Responsible for Tracking Animal Usage? https://olaw.nih.gov/faqs#/search/442/animal%20usage

  4. Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals 8th edn. (National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2011), Appendix B section III.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Richelle Scales

Authors
  1. Richelle Scales
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richelle Scales.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Scales, R. The Numbers Game. Lab Anim 52, 54 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41684-023-01129-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41684-023-01129-w

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing