East
Carolina University Faculty Manual
PART
VII.
RESEARCH
INFORMATION
It
is the policy of East Carolina University that animals used in research and
teaching will receive humane care at all times. Experiments (teaching or research) involving live, vertebrate
animals must be performed by or under the immediate supervision of a qualified
biological, behavioral, or medical scientist.
Experimentation shall be conducted so as to avoid all unnecessary
suffering and injury to the animals.
The scientist in charge of the experiment must be prepared to terminate
it when continuation may result in unnecessary injury or suffering to the
animals.
Procedures
involving animals should be designed and performed with due consideration of
their relevance to human or animal health, the advancement of biological
knowledge, or the good of society. The
animals selected for a procedure should be of an appropriate species and
quality and the minimum number required to obtain scientifically valid results. Statistical analysis, mathematical models,
or in vitro biological systems will be used when appropriate to complement
animal experiments and to reduce numbers of animals used.
Proper
care of animals, including the avoidance or minimization of discomfort,
distress, or pain, is a moral imperative.
Lacking evidence to the contrary, investigators should consider that
procedures that cause pain in human beings cause pain in other animals. Procedures with animals that may cause more
than momentary or slight pain or distress should be performed with appropriate
sedation, analgesia, or anesthesia.
Surgical or other painful procedures shall not be performed on
unanesthetized animals paralyzed by chemical agents. Animals that would otherwise suffer severe or chronic pain or
distress that cannot be relieved should be painlessly killed at the end of the
experiment or, if appropriate, during the experiment.
The
living conditions of animals kept for biomedical purposes should contribute to
their health and comfort. The housing,
care, and feeding of all animals used for these purposes will be supervised by
the university veterinarian.
Investigators and other personnel shall be appropriately qualified and
experienced for conducting procedures with living animals. Adequate arrangements shall be made for
their in-service training, including the proper and humane care and use of
laboratory animals.
If
it is deemed necessary to waive one of the foregoing principles, the decision should
be made with due regard by the scientist to the value of the research and only
after review and approval by the Animal Care and Use Committee. Such waivers will not be made where the
primary purpose is teaching or demonstration.
The
faculty member conducting or supervising the conduct of animal experimentation
is ultimately responsible for the humane care and use of the animals
involved. The faculty member and the
appropriate department chairperson will regularly determine if animal use is
adequately justified and humane care consistently provided.
Animal
husbandry, disease control, appropriate use of anesthesia, administration of
medication for relief of pain and distress, and euthanasia will be conducted as
recommended by the university veterinarian.
Animal care programs throughout the university will be supervised by the
university veterinarian as the representative of the administration.
The
university Animal Care and Use Committee will monitor care and use of
vertebrate animals at ECU and in off‑campus ECU programs. The committee will regularly evaluate animal
care practices, facilities, laboratories, research procedures, and teaching
practices where animals are involved.
The National Institute of Health GUIDE
FOR THE CARE AND USE OF LABORATORY ANIMALS is accepted as the standard for
optimum animal care and will be used, with USDA regulations, by the committee
in the evaluation. The committee,
additionally, will review proposals and protocols for all teaching and research
projects intending to use vertebrate animals.
Proposals and protocols will describe, in detail, methods to be used for
animal care and assurance of humane treatment during experimentation. Committee approval is essential prior to
initiation of the investigation or demonstration. The vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of
Medicine and the vice chancellor for academic affairs will have administrative
oversight
for vertebrate animal care and use programs.
The chairperson of the Animal Care and Use Committee and the university
veterinarian will report to the two vice chancellors regarding their respective
responsibilities.
In
summary, it is the responsibility of the faculty conducting animal studies, the
veterinarian providing animal care supervision, and the committee monitoring
the program to assure humane treatment of animals. Assurance is required by the public and by the granting agencies
that animals will be used responsibly and with every consideration given for
elimination of distress and discomfort.
The university is committed to providing such responsible use and
considerate care for animal subjects of teaching and research activities.
Approved: 21 October 1984