Frequently Asked Questions
-
What is the policy on animal care and use at the University of Colorado at Boulder?
At CU-Boulder, experiments and instruction involving animal use are based on three major principles:
- CU-Boulder reaffirms that the use of animals and animal tissues constitutes fundamental and legitimate aspects of the University's academic mission.
- CU-Boulder encourages the utilization, whenever possible, of alternatives to the use of animals in research, and welcomes the search for alternatives.
- CU-Boulder acknowledges both legal and moral responsibility for the welfare and humane treatment of animals.
In addition, CU-Boulder reaffirms its commitment to abide by established federal standards of humane animal care. The Boulder campus has prepared and continues to distribute its own written guidelines and requirements for appropriate care of animals.
-
Who is responsible for ensuring adequate care and use of animals in research projects?
CU-Boulder's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) assists the director of animal resources in overseeing the University's animal program, facilities and procedures. IACUC's primary functions are to:
- Review all animal use protocols before any project can be started (disapproval stops the research project).
- Conduct semi-annual inspections of animal facilities.
- Set reasonable schedules for the correction of any identified deficiencies noted in the animal facilities or program.
- Provide advice and counsel to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in all matters involving animal use.
- Ensure appropriate training for animal caretakers, investigators, and animal caretakers.
The committee reviews animal use protocols for research and teaching projects and helps plan animal facility projects. IACUC is authorized to suspend any activity involving animals if such activity is deemed inappropriate, inhumane or not in accord with the approved protocol.
The committee consists of 12 representatives of faculty, staff, administration and the local community. By Public Health Service regulation, IACUC must include at least: the attending veterinarian, a practicing scientist experienced in animal research, a non-scientist, and a member not affiliated with the University.
-
What safeguards are in place to ensure appropriate care and use of animals?
In 1987, CU-Boulder formed an Office of Animal Resources to ensure adequate care and use of animals in research projects. The office consists of the veterinary director, and the laboratory animal program coordinator, Silvia N. Iorio. The director is a veterinarian certified by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. The Laboratory Animal Resources Department administers the institutional animal care and use program, and reports directly the Vice Chancellor for Research.
The director provides veterinary care to all research animals on campus. He is free to enter all areas of animal housing and use at any time, conducts regular inspections of the facilities, and provides consultation to investigators on animal use. He is a voting member of CU-Boulder's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and provides clinical, gross and microscopic pathology services and oversees animal facility improvement projects. He also visits all campus animal facilities at least twice weekly. In addition, he makes frequent unannounced inspections of animal housing areas and labs. Ms. Iorio coordinates the institutional training program for all laboratory animal users/handlers on the CU-Boulder campus, handles the administration functions of the department, and administrates the IACUC of which she is also a voting member.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) specifies regulations that must be followed in NIH-sponsored research. NIH also publishes the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, which details how animals are to be housed and outlines institutional policies, required veterinary care, and physical plant requirements necessary for lab animals.
-
CU-Boulder's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is required to conduct semi-annual evaluations of the animal facilities and program. In addition, the committee reviews any animal protocols before a project can be started.
-
Who takes care of the animals and how are the caretakers trained?
Animals are generally cared for by trained animal caretakers. They are trained on the job by qualified staff members and under the supervision of the campus veterinarian. The American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) also provides training and certification programs for CU-Boulder's animal caretakers.
CU-Boulder has an animal care and use training program that is administered by the Animal Resources Department. This program is delivered at the beginning of each semester to all persons involved in the care and use of laboratory animals used in research and teaching. Persons attending the program will be asked to certify that they have participated in and understood the principles of the training program. To date, 1,113 university personnel have attended the training workshop.
-
Does CU-Boulder comply with relevant laws and guidelines?
CU-Boulder complies with all applicable laws and regulations related to use of animals in research, including the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act, among others. Compliance is verified through review of submitted animal protocols (all projects using animals for research or teaching, regardless of funding source, must submit a protocol for review); through inspections of facilities and research projects by the director of animal resources and IACUC members; and through formal investigations by IACUC.
-
What efforts are made to interact with community groups concerned about animal use?
CU-Boulder's IACUC includes at least one non-University community member. An IACUC subcommittee has met regularly with local animal activists in the past. Any questions regarding laboratory animals used in research and teaching on the Boulder campus should be addressed to Dr. Al Petkus, veterinarian. Tours, interviews and questions are encouraged by the Animal Resources Department.
-
How has animal research benefited humans and animals?
Animal research has played a crucial role in the advancement of scientific knowledge in modern society. For example, almost every major medical advance of the past century (including veterinary medicine) depended on the use of animals in research.
Some biomedical advances made possible by animal research include:
- Immunization against polio, mumps, measles, diphtheria, rubella, hepatitis
- Broad-spectrum antibiotics
- Blood transfusions
- Radiation therapy and chemotherapy for cancer
- Open-heart surgery
- Insulin for management of diabetes
- Kidney dialysis
- Microsurgery to reattach severed limbs
- Surgical treatment for atherosclerosis
- Medications to control epileptic seizures
- Vaccination of animals against distemper, rabies, anthrax, tetanus and feline leukemia
- Treatment for cancers in pet animals
- Control of heartworm infection in dogs
- Treatment of arthritis in dogs
In addition, research on animals has contributed significantly to saving some endangered animals from extinction.
-
Why not use alternatives to animals in research and teaching?
Modern science utilizes a wide range of non-animal research methods, such as cell and tissue cultures and mathematical and computer modeling. Technological breakthroughs in this area have fundamentally changed much of scientific research. Scientists continue to identify effective non-animal research methods, but even the most sophisticated technology cannot yet duplicate the complex interactions between cells, tissues and organs that occur in humans and animals.
Live animals are used for three basic purposes: teaching or instruction; testing; and biomedical or basic research. Animals frequently are used for teaching or demonstrating a well-known fact or phenomenon. For example, preserved fetal pigs often are used to teach anatomy. A certain amount of anatomy can be learned from photographs, but the intricate three-dimensional arrangement of organs or muscles often cannot be fully understood unless a dissection is performed.
Live animals are most often used when a system under study cannot be described in sufficient detail to create a simpler model. To create an effective computer simulation, one must know enough about the system under study to program the computer. Likewise, the use of cell cultures is limited because cultured cells do not interact with each other in the many complex ways that cells and organs interact in an intact organism.
Animals also may be used in teaching to demonstrate physiological mechanisms or processes. These types of processes can be duplicated by using a computer program or showing a videotape. Often, however, a vital part of the learning exercise is for the student to actually see or feel the living tissue or actually insert a catheter in a blood vessel.
Non-animal models can be very useful complements to the use of animals in teaching and research -- and technology holds great promise for advances in such methods. However, many areas remain where models cannot replace animals.
-
What kinds of animals are currently used in animal research at CU-Boulder? About how many animals are used?
Mice, rats, wild rodents, chickens and chicken embryos, fish, salamanders, frogs, rabbits, snakes, lizards and amphibians are currently used on campus.
Rats and mice comprise about 95 percent of CU-Boulder's average daily census of 40,000 research animals. No dogs, cats or non-human primates are used on the Boulder campus.
-
How many research projects currently utilize animals?
During calendar year 2006, CU-Boulder received external funding of $16 million for 121 biomedical projects.
-
What types of research projects currently utilize animals? Which departments use animals?
Five departments, one program and one institute use research animals in six animal facilities on campus. In BioServe/Aerospace Engineering, for example, animals are used in projects related to calcium balance of bones and the effects of exposure to electrical fields and simulated weightlessness.
In Integrative Physiology (IPHY), animals are used in projects relating to muscle physiology, reproductive physiology and endocrinology, to study the aging process in muscles and the effects of exercise on hypertension.
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EBIO) uses several types of animals for observation only and for instructional purposes. EBIO also studies the environments of prairie dogs and the development of fish physiology.
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) uses animals in projects relating to developmental biology (embryology), cellular biology and antibody production, and diabetes.
Psychology uses animals in projects relating to learning behavior, predator behavior (snakes), neurophysiology, Alzheimer's disease and learned helplessness (stress), and HIV-induced pain studies. Psychology also uses some animals for instructional purposes.
The Institute for Behavioral Genetics (IBG) houses many select strains of specific pathogen-free mice which are used throughout CU and many other institutions across the United States. These mice are bred for their ability to respond to drugs (alcohol, nicotine, etc.) in specific ways. IBG also conducts research on alcohol and nicotine dependence and substance abuse.
-
Where are the animals obtained?
Special strains of mice used at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics are specifically bred at that facility for their unique characteristics. All other rodents used are obtained from reputable commercial breeders. Some animals are caught in the wild, with appropriate permits obtained.
-
How much money is spent annually on care and upkeep of laboratory animals?
Information on the total investments by all departments is not yet available. More than $3.5 million has been allocated over the past eight years to upgrade animal facilities on campus. Planning continues for additional improvements in the future.
-
Are animals routinely euthanized during or after experimentation? If so, how?
The majority of the animals used in research are euthanized during or after experimentation, especially if specific tissues or organs are required for study. Other projects are not invasive to the animals but generally observe behavior or conduct behavioral training. Any animal euthanization is conducted with techniques approved by IACUC and the campus veterinarian. Approved techniques are described in the report of the Panel on Euthanasia of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2000 Guidelines. CU-Boulder does not allow animals that have been used in research to be adopted.
-
Are students required to dissect animals in some courses? What is the policy?
There are a number of courses, particularly in Integrative Physiology and MCD Biology, in which students are required to use animals. Animal use for instructional purposes ranges from non-invasive observation to dissection of preserved animals like fetal pigs. If animals are to be used in a course, this requirement must be listed in the course description in the catalog. Also, most academic programs allow students to take classes that do not use animals or offer an alternative within the course, if the student objects to animal use. Students are informed of options to avoid dissections or animal demonstrations. For example, in IPHY, students may fulfill their requirements for animals courses by taking microbiology and animal behavior, thus avoiding laboratories using vertebrates. Any use of animals in courses must be approved by IACUC for compliance with guidelines.
-
Have any formal complaints been filed with CU-Boulder about specific projects using animals? How many? Were they resolved and how?
Two formal complaints have been received at CU-Boulder over the last 18 years. Both complaints were investigated and found to be the results of misunderstanding about procedures for anesthesia or euthenasia.
CU-Boulder encourages anyone who has a concern regarding the welfare of animals to contact the IACUC Administrator, the IACUC Chair, the Campus Veterinarian, the Director of Research Integrity, or the Vice Chancellor for Research. See contacts page for details.
- Are tours of animal laboratories and housing areas available?
Tours may be arranged by contacting Dr. Al Petkus, director of animal resources, at 303 492-3411. Advance notice is recommended to ensure convenient times for tours.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT BRONSON HILLIARD AT UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS 303 735-6183 OR THE IACUC ADMINISTRATOR 303 492-8187, OR DR. JOSEPH ROSSE, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH INTEGRITY 303 735-5809.