Policies Veterinary Care Animal Care Resource Guide

Issue Date: XXXXX

, 2013

AC 3. 1 Subject: Veterinary Care: Expired Medical Materi a ls

Pharmaceutical

- Grade Substances in Research Surgery

Pre

- and Post

- Procedural Care Progra m o f Veterinar y Care

Decla w ing and Defanging Pra ctice s i n Wil d o r Exotic

Carnivore s o r Nonhuma n Primates

Health Records

Euthanasia Policy #3

Reference s : AWA Section 2143

9 CFR, Part 2, Sections 2.31, 2.32, 2.33, 2.40 9 CFR, Part 3, Section 3.110

Hist o ry: Replaces m emoranda dated May 31, 1990; November 29, 1991; April 6, 1992; and Septe m ber 25, 1992. Replaces p o licies dated April 14, 1997; January 14, 2000; August 18, 2006; July 17, 2007 ; and March 25, 2011

.

Justi f ica t i o n: Provides requested guidance. The Ani m al W elfare Act (A WA ) requires that

all regulated ani m als be provid e d adequat e veterinar y care.

Policy: Expired Medical M a terials

The use of expired medical materials (e.g., drugs, fluids, sutures, anesthetics, or analgesics) during any surgical procedur e is not considered acceptable veterinary practice and therefore not consistent with adequate veterinary care as required by the regulations promulgated under the Animal Welfare Act. However, expired medical materials except analgesics, anesthetics, and

eu thanasia solutions may be used in acute terminal procedures where an animal is anesthetized during the study and euthanized without recovery if such use does not adversely affect the animal’s well

- being or compromise the validity of the scientific study.

Facilities permitting the use of expired medical materials in acute terminal procedures should have a policy on the use of such materials and/or require investigators to describe the intended use in the animal study proposal.

The Animal and Plant Health I nspection Service/ Animal Care (APHIS/AC) has determined that the attending veterinarian along with the IACUC should control the use of expired medical materials in order to comply with the regulatory requirement to ensure pain and distress is minimized du ring proposed activities. Expired materials should be segregated from non

- expired medical materials inAnimal Care Resource Guide Policies Veterinary Care

3. 2 AC an appropriately labeled, physically separate location or discarded. APHIS however has no jurisdiction over the possession and use of expired medical

ma terials for non

- regulated animals and activities.

Pharmaceutical

- Grade Substances in Research

Investigators are expected to use pharmaceutical

- grade substances whenever they are available, even in acute procedures. This includes but is not limited to: compounds, medications, drugs, vehicles, and diluents. Non

- pharmaceutical

grade substances should only be used in regulated animals after specific review and approval by the IACUC. The IACUC should develop a consistent evaluation process which includes but not limited to the scientific justification for use and availability of an acceptable veterinary or human pharmaceutical

grade product. Cost savings alone is not sufficient justification for using a non

pharmaceutical

- grade substance in regulated animals. APHIS recognizes that most test articles and novel compounds are by definition not available in pharmaceutical grade.

Consultation with the attending veterinarian and consideration of alternatives are required when pr ocedures that use non

- pharmaceutical grade substances may potentially cause more than slight or momentary pain or distress.

Surgery

Professional Standards and Established Procedures : Current professional standards preclude eating, drinking, or smok ing in surgery areas. Locations used for food handling purposes do not qualify as acceptable areas for performing surgeries.

Survival Surgeries: AWA regulations require that survival surgeries be performed using aseptic techniques and that major operativ e procedures on nonrodents be performed only in dedicated surgical facilities. For the purposes of this policy, designated surgical facilities are those that are set up to be cleaned and maintained in an aseptic condition, and are not used for other

purpos es when they are not being used for surgery. They must be maintained in good repair to meet aseptic requirements.

APHIS has determined that hotel meeting rooms and auditoriums do not qualify as dedicated surgical facilities.

Nonsurvival Surgeries : Nonsurvival surgeries do not require aseptic techniques or dedicated facilities but should be performed in a clean area, free of clutter, and using acceptable veterinary sanitation practices equivalent to those used in a

standard examination/treatment room . Personnel present in the area should observe reasonable cleanliness practices for both themselves and the animals. The performance of nonsurvival surgeries in hotel meeting rooms and auditoriums as practiced in instances such as teaching situations andPolicies Veterinary Care Animal Care Resource Guide

Issue Date: XXXXX

, 2013

AC 3. 3 demonstration can only occur provided the requirements for nonsurvival surgery and minimizing pain and distress are met.

Pre

- and Post

- Procedural Care

All animal activity proposals involving surgery must provide specific details of

pre

- through post

- procedural care and relief of pain and distress. The principal investigator must involve the attending veterinarian or his/her designee in planning the type of care that may be provided. The appropriate use of drugs to relieve pain and/or distress should be specified in the animal activity proposal to avoid possible delays due to investigator concerns that a treatment regimen may interfere with the study. Furt hermore, the specified drugs for relief of pain and/or distress must be readily available for use as described in the proposal. However, the attending veterinarian retains the authority to alter post

- operative care if unexpected pain and/or distress occur in an animal. The IACUC must approve a significant change to the protocol if the attending veterinarian requests to alter post

- operative care for the remaining animals. The withholding of pain and/or distress relieving care must be scientifically justified in writing and approved by the IACUC.

In the event the animal is taken to an off

- site location, such as a farm, for post

operative care, that location should be identified as a site of the research facility or a site of another registered research facil ity in order for AC to conduct an inspection. To comply with adequate veterinary care requirements and in accordance with currently accepted standards of practice, an animal is not to be

taken to an off

- site location before it fully recovers from anesthesi a unless justified in the animal activity proposal. Appropriate post

- operative records should be maintained in accordance with professionally accepted veterinary procedures regardless of the location of the animal.Animal Care Resource Guide Policies Veterinary Care

3. 4 AC Program of Veterinary Care

Facilities which do not have a full

- time attending veterinarian must have a written Program of Veterinary Care (PVC). This Program must consist of a properly completed APHIS Form 7002 or an equivalent format. The attending

veterinarian must visit the faci lity on a regular basis, i.e., often enough to provide adequate oversight of the facility’s care and use of animals. APHIS recommends this visit occur at least annually. Records of visits by the attending veterinarian should be kept to include dates of the visits and comments or recommendations of the attending veterinarian or other veterinarians. The PVC should be reviewed and updated whenever necessary (e.g., as a new species of animal or a new attending veterinarian is obtained, or the preventive

medica l program changes). APHIS recommends that the PVC be initialed and dated by both the attending veterinarian and the facility representative whenever it is changed or reviewed without change. The preventive medical program described in the PVC is expected t o be in accordance with professionally accepted veterinary practice (e.g., appropriate vaccinations, diagnostic testing). It should include zoonotic disease prevention measures

.

Declawing and Defanging Practices in Wild or Exotic Carnivores or

Nonhuman Pr imates

Declawing of wild and exotic carnivores and the removal or reduction of canine teeth in nonhuman primates and wild and exotic carnivores have been used in the past in an attempt to minimize dangers presented during human interaction with these spec ies. These procedures are not innocuous and can cause ongoing pain, discomfort, or other pathological conditions in the animals. In addition, they do not prevent predatory behaviors, safeguard the general public, or prevent biting in nonhuman primates and carnivores.

The declawing of any wild or exotic carnivore does not constitute appropriate veterinary care unless prescribed by the attending veterinarian for treatment of individual medical problems of the paws. Any medical treatment of a paw

should be li mited to the affected digit(s) or area

.

The removal of the canine teeth of a nonhuman primate, or wild or exotic carnivore, does not constitute appropriate veterinary care unless as prescr ibed by the attending veterinarian for the immediate medical needs of the animal. Tooth reduction that exposes the pulp cavity does not constitute appropriate veterinary care as it may result in oral pathologic conditions and pain. Reduction that does

not expose the pulp cavity may be acceptable in some instances such as a behavioral study or breeding situation.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has developed a policy statement on these issues that supports APHIS’ recommendation. It also suggests alternatives to dental surgery such as behavioral modification, environmental enrichment, and changes in group composition. A full text of AVMA policies can

be found on www.avma.org

.Policies Veterinary Care Animal Care Resource Guide

Issue Date: XXXXX

, 2013

AC 3. 5 Health Records

Health records are needed to convey necessary information to all people involved in an animal’s care. Every facility should have a system of health records sufficiently comprehensive to demonstrate the delivery of adequate health care. For traveling exhibitors, information on any chronic or ongoing health problems and information on the most current preventive medical pr ocedures should accompany any traveling animals, but the individual medical history records may

be maintained at the home site.

Euthanasia

The method of euthanasia should be consistent with the current AVMA

Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pages/Euthanasia

- Guidelines.aspx

.

Gunshot as a routine method of euthanasia endangers surrounding animals, buildings, and personnel, and is likely to cause dis tress to other animals. This

method is conditionally acceptable under a specific set of circumstances in order to ensure the welfare of the animal undergoing euthanasia. Such circumstances include instances where other forms of accept able euthanasia cannot be used ( e.g. emergency or field conditions where the animal cannot b e appropriately restrained) or in cludes situations where gunshot reduces the danger to other animals or humans. Only personnel skilled in the use of firearms, using appropriate firearms, and familiar with the "kill point" of the animal should perform the euthanasia. If the firearm is not aimed so that the projectile enters the brain and causes rapid unconsciousness and subsequent death without evidence of pain or dis tress, the definition of euthanasia is not met. However, it may not be appropriate to target the head when samples of brain tissue are needed, hence gunshot through the heart may be necessary in such situations. Note: All State and local laws relevant to g unshot must also be met.

Also note that in accordance with the "Expired Medical Materials" section of this policy, the use of expired euthanasia drugs is consid ered inadequate veterinary

care.