Washington
State University
Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committee
Guidelines
for Veterinary Care of Animals by Veterinary Researchers and Veterinary
Faculty
Background:
WSU's
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is charged to
verify that "Adequate Veterinary Care" will be provided
for all research and teaching animals. The term "Adequate Veterinary
Care" is defined in a series of laws, regulations, and policy
statements issued by a variety of public and private agencies. Components
of adequate veterinary care include programs of disease detection
and surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and resolution.
Programs of adequate veterinary care also involve consultation with
animal users, training of research personnel, evaluation of animal
vendors, overall assessment of adequacy of postoperative care, and
provision of weekend and holiday care for the animals. Programs
of veterinary care must be documentable to regulatory agencies and
there are record-keeping requirements.
Each
campus animal facility has a veterinarian or veterinary service
that provides veterinary care for animals within that unit. For
example, Laboratory Animal Veterinary Staff provide clinical services
for a majority of the facilities that house traditional laboratory
animal species while Veterinary Clinical Medicine and Surgery large
animal veterinarians provide clinical services for the Animal Science
Farm Animal Centers and the College of Veterinary Medicine large
animal herds.
Many
campus researchers and instructors are also veterinarians. In some
cases, these veterinarians choose to deliver veterinary services,
such as treatment of sick animals and administration of postoperative
care, for their own experimental animals. These individuals are
often highly qualified to administer such care and there is every
reason to encourage their involvement.
However,
there are potential problems associated with programs of veterinary
care delivered by an individual researcher/instructor. While these
individuals may be highly qualified veterinarians, they may not
be familiar with laws or regulations regarding research animals.
If medical records are not maintained or readily accessible, such
as being located within the unit where the animals are housed, it
may not be possible to document the veterinary care provided and
as such the existence of an adequate program to outside agencies.
In addition, if the individual or service that normally provides
veterinary care for a particular project or area ceases to routinely
visit a project or area, this may be interpreted as inadequate oversight
in the eyes of regulatory agencies.
This
policy statement by the WSU IACUC is intended to allow veterinary
faculty to directly deliver veterinary care for their own animals
to the greatest extent possible consistent with the campus' need
to monitor and document such care.
Additional
information relating to adequate veterinary care 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).
Policy:
Adequate
veterinary care is an institutional responsibility. The Office of
the Campus Veterinarian (the Attending Veterinarian of record) under
the Federal Animal Welfare
Act, has final responsibility to insure that campus programs
of veterinary care are adequate.
Colleges,
Departments and individual investigators have designated particular
veterinarians and/or veterinary services (e.g., Veterinary Clinical
Medicine and Surgery large or small animal veterinarians) to have
responsibility for veterinary care within their units. These veterinarians
and services have statutory responsibilities under delegated authority
from the Attending Veterinarian.
Veterinarian-researchers/instructors
who wish to directly provide veterinary care for their own animals
are free to do so, provided they work in close association with
the Attending Veterinarian and the Veterinary Clinical Medicine
and Surgery Staff Veterinarians who provide routine veterinary care
for the unit where the researcherĘs/instructors animals are housed.
This will normally include providing advice about the project, information
as to what components of veterinary care the researcher/instructor
wishes to provide, and providing medical records to the animal facility
appropriate to the needs of the project.
The
Attending Veterinarian retains the responsibility for the adequacy
of veterinary care and retains oversight responsibility for animals
within the research and teaching animal housing units. Animal caretakers
must continue to report sick calls through the normal channels e.g.,
to the veterinarian-researcher/instructor, Veterinary Clinical Medicine
and Surgery large or small animal staff veterinarians, or the Attending
Veterinarian but the Attending Veterinarian must receive enough
information to assure that adequate veterinary care is being delivered.
Disagreements
regarding the care being provided should be discussed between the
veterinarian-scientist and the Attending Veterinarian. Cases which
cannot be resolved at this level should be presented to the IACUC
for discussion and resolution.
Approved
by IACUC: 01/21/97
|
