Category Archive

The Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International Council on Accreditation identified several gaps in our program during its July 2014 site visit that we are required to address in order to maintain accreditation, which is mandated by the Regents. Two of these items – failure to adequately justify non-social housing of social species, and insufficient … Read More

The ARC recently updated two policies and approved a new policy: Tumor Development in Rodents – revised Updated to clarify the requirement to euthanize animals based on impact of tumor burden. Environmental Enrichment – revised Updated to remove information about social housing. Social Housing – NEW! Describes the requirement for social housing of social species and how to document exceptions. … Read More

Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed the holidays. The ARC will be announcing new and updated policies in the coming months that may impact you. We ask that you keep an eye on your email and visit the OARO News page frequently for updates. Past News items are available in the News Archive. For those of you that use … Read More

The Office Research Administration (ORA) will observe UCLA’s 2014-2015 Winter Holiday Closure. ORA will be closed beginning Wednesday, December 24, 2014 and will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2015. Please be advised that the Chancellor’s Animal Research Committee (ARC) and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) will not conduct business during the closure. As such, ORA staff will not process ARC or … Read More

During their July 2014 visit to our campus, the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International site visit team noted that a large number of animals throughout the facilities were individually housed absent ARC approval or veterinary exemption for the arrangement. AAALAC cited this as a mandatory correction item in order for UCLA to maintain continuing … Read More

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition includes new recommendations concerning use of CO2 exposure as a method of euthanasia for laboratory rodents. These guidelines indicate that a gradual fill method must be used, with the recommended fill rate (displacement) between 10% and 30% of the chamber volume per minute. CO2 gas distribution systems … Read More

Laboratory Animal Allergies (LAA) and Occupational Asthma (OA) develop from exposure to animal allergens, and are among the most common, serious occupational diseases of workers exposed to animals in laboratories. Please review the Lab Animal Allergies & Occupational Asthma fact sheet  to learn how to prevent LAA and OA. The ARC encourages all labs to print and post this flyer … Read More

The ARC Policy on Survival Surgery in Mice, Rats, and Birds has recently been revised; the updated Policy is available at the Survival Surgery in Mice, Rats, and Birds web page. Two changes have been made to the Policy regarding post-operative treatment cards: The Policy clarifies that post-op cards are to be used until treatment is discontinued or sutures/wound clips … Read More

The ARC has recently approved a new Policy on Rodent CO2 Euthanasia; the updated Policy is available at the Rodent CO2 Euthanasia web page. This Policy describes important procedural requirements labs must follow in order to meet recommendations made in the 2013 AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals concerning the use of CO2. Please contact the Office of Animal Research … Read More

Two years ago, the ARC implemented a change in approval periods, such that research with non-USDA regulated species is approved on a 3-year cycle, while protocols using regulated species are reviewed annually. During the year and a half since this change, protocols have been granted 1-, 2-, or 3- year approvals depending on when the 3-year cycle from initial approval … Read More