Animal Use Categories, Definitions and Examples

Category C:
Animals that will not experience pain, discomfort, or distress.

• Euthanasia using AVMA approved methods (including general anesthesia followed immediately by cervical dislocation or decapitation) for purposes of harvesting tissue, with or without fixation, in-situ.
  
• Behavioral observations.
  
• Natural breeding.
  
• Venipuncture for blood collection.
• Routine injections of non-toxic substances by IV, IP, SubQ, ID or IM routes.
• Genotyping using tail-snip without anesthesia (using the vivarium SOP) in preweanling mice only.
• Identification by ear punch or toe clip without anesthesia (using the vivarium SOP) in preweanling mice only.
  
• Tube feeding or gavage.
  
• Studies which use positive reinforcement or scheduled feeding or watering.
  
• Use of aversive stimuli that are mild, of limited duration, and can be avoided by the animal.

• Cervical dislocation or decapitation without the use of sedative, anesthetic or tranquilizing drugs as described in AVMA 2000. Provide evidence that this method of euthanasia is scientifically justified, and that it will be done by specifically trained personnel using appropriate techniques and equipment.
  
  Category D:
  Animals that may experience pain, discomfort or distress but will be administered appropriate anesthetic, analgesic or tranquilizing drug to alleviate these effects.

• All major or minor recovery surgery.
• Procedures for which anesthesia or sedation is used, except euthanasia described in C above..
• Implantation of mini-osmotic pumps.
• Retrobulbar blood collection and intraocular injections under sedation, using DLAM procedures.
  
• Non-recovery surgical experiments (i.e.. assessing organ function followed by euthanasia).
• Tumor studies or monoclonal and polyclonal antibody production, but only if using standard UCAR Protocols.
  
  Category E^*:
  Animals will experience pain, discomfort or distress for which anesthetics, analgesics or tranquilizing drugs would customarily be given but will not be administered because their use would adversely affect the interpretation of experimental results or interpretation.
  

• Tumor studies in which subjects exceed standard UCAR "end-points."
• Retrobulbar blood collection without sedation. Provide evidence that this procedure is scientifically justified and that it will be done by specifically trained personnel using appropriate technique.
  
• Exposure to radiation that produces clinical illness.
  
• Use of aversive stimuli that are unavoidable, such as inescapable electric shock or exposure to environmental extremes.
  
• Death as an endpoint.

^*Note: Federal regulations require that experiments conducted that are in this category must be specifically reported in the University's Annual Report to the United States Department of Agriculture. The Report must include the species, numbers and brief explanation of the scientific justification.