Acquisition, Tracking, and Reporting Animal Numbers

Process

1. ARC Protocol Approval
   • The source of all live vertebrate animals used for research, teaching, or testing activities should be identified in the approved ARC protocol (e.g., from a commercial source, bred in-house, collaborator).
   • If animals are collected in the wild, this must be identified in the protocol and relevant permits obtained prior to commencing collection.
   • When researchers breed animals in-house and elect to maintain separate breeding and experimental protocols, off-spring should be transferred from the breeding protocol to the appropriate experimental protocol prior to commencing research activities; this is accomplished by completing a DLAM Internal Transfer Request form.
2. Sourcing Animals
   • Procurement of animals must be done by, or in coordination with, DLAM. DLAM will procure animals from commercial sources, whenever available, ensuring that animals are acquired from pre-qualified vendors, and will track animal numbers by species and protocol at the time of ordering.
   • Investigators that obtain animals via any non-commercial source must notify DLAM prior to the arrival of the animals on campus and their numbers must be documented and reported directly to the ARC no less than annually, as described below.
3. Reporting Animal Numbers (animals housed on campus)
   1. Rodents (e.g., mice, rats)
      1. Rodents bred in-house, in DLAM-managed areas: DLAM will identify and report all live pups born in DLAM-managed vivaria and subsequently deduct these numbers from the ARC protocol that is listed on the corresponding cage card.
      2. Rodents bred in-house, in PI-managed areas: Investigators that directly manage their own rodent breeding colonies in space that is not managed by DLAM must track and report all newborn animals to the ARC through the ARC administrative office (arc@research.ucla.edu) at least once/month, upon request.
   2. Permitted aquatics (e.g., zebrafish)
      1. Investigators are to perform a monthly census based on animals, rather than tanks, in order to maintain compliance with State regulations. One mechanism to perform the census is to take inventory of tanks by size, then estimate tank density for each size tank; each sized tank in the colony then is counted monthly and the estimated fish density per tank size multiplied by the number of tanks of that size to yield the census count for that month. The mechanism used to perform census will be documented in the lab SOP. Census data is to be available upon request.
      2. Also on a monthly basis, all fish users are to provide to the ARC a report of animals >3 days post fertilization used in the prior month.
   3. Other breeding animals (e.g., birds, other mammals, exotics)
      1. For those breeding colonies not housed in a location where husbandry is managed by DLAM, researchers are expected to report new offspring to the ARC on a monthly basis (see 3aii above).
      2. In cases where husbandry duties are shared with DLAM, check with DLAM staff assigned to the room(s) to determine who is responsible for reporting live animal births to the ARC.
   4. Animals obtained from non-commercial sources, including wild-caught animals
      1. Investigators that obtain animals directly from non-traditional commercial sources (e.g., coordinated with DLAM but not through a DLAM order or import process) are to document and report to the ARC the number of animals received upon their arrival at the research facility.
      2. In addition, this information is to be tallied annually and filed with the ARC, using the USDA pain categorizations and process described under 4 below.
4. Reporting Animal Numbers (animals studied in the field)
   On an annual basis, investigators are to tally and report to the ARC the number of warm-blooded animals that are subjected to invasive procedures (including planned euthanasia) in the field for work conducted in the United States.

   The annual report of wild-caught animals and those subjected to invasive procedures in the field will cover the period October 1 to September 30. Requests for information will be initiated by the ARC administrative office and should be provided to arc@research.ucla.edu as follows for each species:

   Category	Total
   Pain Category B: Total number of animals bred, conditioned, or held, but not yet used for experimental purposes. Examples: breeding, quarantine/acclimation prior to use
   Pain Category C: Total number of animals used in experiments but subjected to no more than momentary pain/distress. Examples: injections of non-toxic substances, peripheral blood collections not requiring anesthesia, euthanasia and harvesting of tissue only, observing natural behavior, behavioral testing without significant restraint or noxious stimuli.
   Pain Category D: Total number of animals for which pain/distress is relieved by use of appropriate anesthetics, analgesics, tranquilizers or by euthanasia. Examples: terminal surgery, survival surgery, retro-orbital blood collection, euthanasia of animals showing signs of more than slight or momentary pain and/or distress.
   Pain Category E: Total number of animals for which pain/distress cannot be relieved by use of anesthetics, analgesics, or tranquilizers, as the use of these agents would interfere with the experimental design. Examples: pain research, toxicity testing.