Animal Welfare Training Requirements Active
Mandatory training for personnel involved in care and use of animals at Ecosystems Mission Area, USGS:
The Ecosystems Mission Area (EMA) and the IACUCs require all scientists, research technicians, animal technicians and other personnel involved in animal care, treatment and use at EMA to be trained in the usage of animals.
Essential qualifications may vary with one’s duties but anyone performing any aspect of animal experimentation or husbandry must be sufficiently trained or experienced in the techniques they will perform to assure the resultant welfare of the animals. The IACUC is legally required by AWA to determine that personnel are qualified to properly perform animal-related duties conducted within the committee’s purview. Each Science Center IACUC proposal review request includes information about relevant experience and training of all personnel who will have responsibility for animal manipulations. In addition, each IACUC requires that the PI provide assurances that they, and personnel under their supervision, will be appropriately trained and qualified.
Besides essential training to perform animal-related duties, the regulations of the AWA require that investigators provide the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) with documentation demonstrating that alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary pain or distress to the animals have been considered and that activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments. A thorough literature search regarding alternatives meets this Federal mandate. An alternative is any procedure which results in the reduction in the numbers of animals used, refinement of techniques, or replacement of animals. The Ecosystems Mission Area require that all scientists attend the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) workshops and trainings that focus on the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and its requirements, 3Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement of animal use) alternatives examples and resources, and how to conduct a literature search for 3Rs alternatives.
Links to IACUC Training Resources:
- Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC)
- Scientist Center for Animal Welfare (SCAW)
- Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW)
- American Association for laboratory Animal Science (AAALAS)
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
- Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal care (AAALAC) Educational Outreach
- PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals | OLAW
Other Useful Links:
- Read the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals 2020 Edition
- Read the 2016 Guidelines of the American society of Mammologists for the use of wild mammals in research and education
- Read the American Fisheries Society, 2014. Guidelines for the use of fishes in research.
-
Read the Ornithological Council, Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research
-
Read the Animal Care Guidelines for Herpetology Guidelines for use of live amphibians and reptiles in field and laboratory research
Back to USGS Ecosystems Mission Area: Animal Welfare Assurance
Mandatory training for personnel involved in care and use of animals at Ecosystems Mission Area, USGS:
The Ecosystems Mission Area (EMA) and the IACUCs require all scientists, research technicians, animal technicians and other personnel involved in animal care, treatment and use at EMA to be trained in the usage of animals.
Essential qualifications may vary with one’s duties but anyone performing any aspect of animal experimentation or husbandry must be sufficiently trained or experienced in the techniques they will perform to assure the resultant welfare of the animals. The IACUC is legally required by AWA to determine that personnel are qualified to properly perform animal-related duties conducted within the committee’s purview. Each Science Center IACUC proposal review request includes information about relevant experience and training of all personnel who will have responsibility for animal manipulations. In addition, each IACUC requires that the PI provide assurances that they, and personnel under their supervision, will be appropriately trained and qualified.
Besides essential training to perform animal-related duties, the regulations of the AWA require that investigators provide the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) with documentation demonstrating that alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary pain or distress to the animals have been considered and that activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments. A thorough literature search regarding alternatives meets this Federal mandate. An alternative is any procedure which results in the reduction in the numbers of animals used, refinement of techniques, or replacement of animals. The Ecosystems Mission Area require that all scientists attend the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) workshops and trainings that focus on the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and its requirements, 3Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement of animal use) alternatives examples and resources, and how to conduct a literature search for 3Rs alternatives.
Links to IACUC Training Resources:
- Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC)
- Scientist Center for Animal Welfare (SCAW)
- Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW)
- American Association for laboratory Animal Science (AAALAS)
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
- Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal care (AAALAC) Educational Outreach
- PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals | OLAW
Other Useful Links:
- Read the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals 2020 Edition
- Read the 2016 Guidelines of the American society of Mammologists for the use of wild mammals in research and education
- Read the American Fisheries Society, 2014. Guidelines for the use of fishes in research.
-
Read the Ornithological Council, Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research
-
Read the Animal Care Guidelines for Herpetology Guidelines for use of live amphibians and reptiles in field and laboratory research
Back to USGS Ecosystems Mission Area: Animal Welfare Assurance