Authority of the Attending Veterinarian

Adequate veterinary care is an institutional responsibility. The Director, Office of the Campus Veterinarian is the Attending Veterinarian of record for the WSU campus and, as per the Federal Animal Welfare Act, has final authority and responsibility to insure that campus programs of veterinary care are adequate.

Washington State University provides the Attending Veterinarian the authority to oversee the adequacy of all aspects of animal care and use of animals on the WSU campus and the authority to ensure that adequate veterinary care and adequate pre & post procedural or surgical care, in accordance with current established veterinary medical and nursing practices, is provided at all times.

This authority is exercised in the following manner:

• While the responsibility for clinical care may be delegated to another veterinarian, the Attending Veterinarian maintains the Office of the Campus Veterinarian to be responsible for the care provided to all research and teaching animals at WSU. This Office retains, at all times, the authority to immediately access the medical records of non-client, research and teaching animals to assess the care given.

• Adequate veterinary care consists of appropriate methods to: prevent disease; survey, diagnosis, treat, and control disease; manage protocol-associated disease, disability, or other sequel; provide anesthesia and analgesia; perform surgery and provide post-surgical care; assess animal well-being; and perform euthanasia.

• Methods of disease prevention, diagnosis, and therapy should be those currently accepted in veterinary practice.

• All animals must be observed on a daily basis in order to assess their health and well-being (e.g., monitor for signs of illness, injury, or abnormal behavior). More frequent observations might be warranted, such as during postoperative recovery or when animals are ill or have a physical deficit. This daily observation of animals is regularly performed by someone other than the Attending Veterinarian (e.g., animal care staff, research staff or by a person trained to recognize such signs) but these individuals must provide direct and frequent communication to the Attending Veterinarian such that timely and accurate information on problems of animal health, behavior, and well-being is conveyed to the Attending Veterinarian. The Campus Veterinarian and his/her staff are assigned the responsibility of assuring corrective measures are provided once identified.

• In addition to adequate veterinary care, the Campus Veterinarian has the authority to ensure the provision of and to oversee the adequacy of all other aspects of animal care and use on the WSU campus. These other aspects can include animal husbandry and nutrition, sanitation practices, zoonosis control, and hazard containment. This oversight includes the authority to access all animals at all times for evaluation of their health and well-being. Visits to animal housing, study and surgery areas are routinely scheduled by the Office of the Campus Veterinarian in order to assess the adequacy of veterinary care and other aspects of animal care associated with the use of research and teaching animals.

• The Campus Veterinarian also has the responsibility of providing guidance to principal investigators and other research personnel involved in the care and use of animals regarding handling, immobilization, anesthesia, analgesia, tranquilization, and euthanasia in order to ensure that humane needs are met and are compatible with scientific requirements.

Background:

Responsibility for the humane and responsible care and use of research and teaching animals at WSU is shared among all involved personnel, including faculty, staff, and students. However, administrative responsibility for this area of university activity has been delegated from the President to the Vice Provost for Research, who in turns assigns many activities to the university's Attending Veterinarian and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Institutions using animals for teaching and research are required by law (The Animal Welfare Act) to have an attending veterinarian. In addition, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals specifies that the veterinary-care program is the responsibility of the attending veterinarian, who is certified (Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine) or has training or experience in laboratory animal science and medicine or in the care of the species being used.

The Guide further notes that some aspects of the veterinary-care program can be conducted by persons other than a veterinarian, but a mechanism for direct and frequent communication should be established to ensure that timely and accurate information is conveyed to the veterinarian on problems associated with animal health, behavior, and well-being. The attending veterinarian must provide guidance to investigators and all personnel involved in the care and use of animals to ensure appropriate handling, immobilization, sedation, analgesia, anesthesia, and euthanasia. The attending veterinarian must also provide guidance or oversight to surgery programs and oversight of post-surgical care.

The WSU Campus Veterinarian, who is assisted by his/her Office staff, is directly responsible for ensuring that proper veterinary medical and pre & post procedural or surgical care is provided to all university animals under all circumstances. The regulations also hold the Attending Veterinarian responsible for overseeing the adequacy of other aspects of animal use (e.g., housing and husbandry) and assuring that all animals are observed and provided care on a daily basis with any noted problems being communicated to the attending veterinary staff.

Additional information relating to the authority and responsibilities of the attending veterinarian may be found in The Animal Welfare Act, The Guide for The Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (1996) and the Report of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine on Adequate Veterinary Care in Research, Testing and Teaching (1996), all which may be obtained from the WSU Office of the Campus Veterinarian.