Introduction
Veterinary care is an essential component of an animal care program to ensure that the humane needs of research animals are met while maintaining compatibility with the scientific requirements. In addition to providing healthy research animals for scientifically sound projects, veterinary care is required by regulatory agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services, and the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International.
The components of adequate veterinary care are described by the above agencies and categorized into five all encompassing categories by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine:
- Disease Detection and Surveillance
- Methods for Analgesia, Anesthesia and Euthanasia
- Surgical and Postoperative Care
- Animal Well-Being
- Appropriate Use of Animals in Research and Testing
These components must be available to all investigators on the University of California, Davis campus to ensure animal welfare and regulatory compliance.
The components of the Veterinary Care program are developed, maintained and implemented by the Attending Veterinarian through the veterinary staffs of the California National Primate Research Center, Campus Veterinary Services (CVS), and the VMTH Large Animal Field Service. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) ensures that these components are met through programmatic review every six months.
The Attending Veterinarian and the veterinary staff is involved in most of these components primarily in consultation and collaboration with investigators, animal facility managers, or from referrals through the protocol review process. The areas in which the veterinary staff has the greatest potential for use is in the areas of Disease Detections and Surveillance and Surgical and Postoperative Care.
These services are readily available to every department by contacting the CVS at lahc@ucdavis.edu or 530.752.0514, the Primate Medical Section at the CNPRC at 530.752.2514. The Veterinary staff will perform regularly scheduled site visits to ensure the components of the veterinary care program are addressed.
The core of the veterinary care program relies on each department to communicate effectively and frequently with the veterinary staff. This communication can occur by direct contact, phone, fax or email. To assist in establishing this communication line, each department should have a written description of how to contact the veterinarian for consultation, particularly as it relates to the disease status of animals.