Acclimation of Large Animals (IACUC)

Purpose

Boston University (BU) is committed to observing Federal policies and regulations and AAALAC International standards for the humane care and use of animals. This policy describes the acclimation period for large animals. Adherence to this policy is mandatory unless a specific exception has been approved by the IACUC.

Covered Parties

This policy is applicable to all persons responsible for conducting research, teaching, training, breeding, and related activities, hereinafter referred to collectively as “activities”, involving vertebrate animals at or under the auspices of Boston University.

University Policy

  • BU requires an acclimation period of seven (7) full days for large animals prior to any use for survival experiments.
  • Euthanasia and tissue harvest is allowed on the day of arrival.
  • Non-survival surgery or other terminal non-survival procedures are allowed the day after arrival. However, the principal investigator (PI) is advised to consider the effect that shipping stress may have on the experimental data.

Boston University Animal Science Center (BU ASC) staff are responsible for evaluating the health status of large animals on arrival and during acclimation. BU ASC staff are responsible for documentation during the acclimation period. During this time, the PI and research staff are encouraged to familiarize themselves with their new animals. If animals are moved into a different biocontainment level prior to study, additional acclimation time may be considered.

IACUC Guidelines for Large Animal Acclimation

Rabbits

  1. Examine rabbits on arrival. Verify and note ID, sex, and weight in a prepared individual animal health record or in the animal room log sheet.
  2. If space is available, house newly arrived rabbits in a separate animal room.
  3. Place newly arrived rabbits on transitional feeding plan to acclimate them to potentially new rabbit chow, according to BU ASC standard operating procedure.
  4. During the acclimation period, closely monitor and document animal appearance, behavior, and food consumption, urine, and feces daily.

Ferrets

  1. Examine ferrets on arrival. Verify and note ID, sex, and weight in a prepared individual animal health record or in the animal room log sheet.
  2. If space is available, house newly arrived ferrets in a separate animal room.
  3. Juvenile ferrets are routinely pair-housed.
  4. During the acclimation period, closely monitor and document animal appearance, behavior, and food consumption, urine, and feces daily.

Swine

  1. Examine swine on arrival. Verify and note ID, sex, and weight in a prepared individual animal health record.
  2. If space is available, house newly arrived swine in a separate animal room.
  3. House swine of a different breed and/or health status separately.
  4. During the acclimation period, closely monitor and document animal appearance, behavior, and food consumption, urine, and feces are daily.

Cats

  1. Examine cats on arrival. Check for USDA ID number, sex, and weight and note findings in a prepared individual animal health record.
  2. If space is available, house newly arrived cats in a separate animal room.
  3. During the acclimation period, closely monitor and document animal appearance, behavior, and food consumption, urine, and feces are daily

Need for Acclimation

Factors affected by shipping stress and acclimation

  1. “Stress associated with transportation has widespread effects on physiological systems in laboratory animals, including changes in the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, central nervous, and reproductive systems. Although short-lived, these changes can confound research if animals are utilized before homeostasis is restored and physiological measures return to normal. Therefore, some period of acclimatization following transportation is generally suggested to restore homeostasis. The following two questions should be considered to establish an adequate period for acclimatization:
    • Will anticipated physiological changes confound the research to be conducted?
    • What is the length of time necessary for confounding physiological changes to normalize?
  2. Finding answers to those questions in the literature can be a challenge. Most literature on the physiological impact of transportation involves agricultural animals, although the limited literature in common laboratory animal species generally parallels changes documented in agricultural animals. The literature documents elevated heart rate and weight loss, as well as elevated concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, glucose, cortisol, free fatty acids, and β-hydroxybutyrate. Carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism (both lipolysis and lipogenesis) are altered, and plasma osmolality, albumen, protein, and pack-cell volume increase. Neutrophilia and lymphopenia are also evident. These measures generally return to baseline within one to seven days of transportation, although animals that are young, severely stressed, and have stress-sensitive genotypes may show altered physiological measures for several weeks. Other measures such as circadian rhythm and reproductive performance may take several weeks to months to normalize”.1
  3. “Numerous studies demonstrate the beneficial effects of frequently handling research animals before initiation of study protocols as well as in early life”.6
  4. “Animals habituated to the handler or which are gentled in early life show less handling stress in later life and react only to the particular experimental stimuli used in the study, whereas non-handled animals are much more likely to react to a new handler as well as to the test situation.”6

Effects of Transportation Stress on Studies

It is in the principal investigator’s best interest to ascertain how the studies undertaken are confounded by transportation stress.

For example: It has been reported that subsequent to transportation:

  • Immunologic functions are inhibited3,5
  • Cortisol levels are elevated3,4,5
  • Serum chemistry parameters are affected4
  • Behavior is affected5

Responsible Parties

Principal Investigators are responsible for ensuring adherence to this policy.

The Animal Welfare Program and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee are responsible for overseeing implementation of and ensuring compliance with this policy.

Ball, Roberta Scipioni 2006. Issues to Consider for Preparing Ferrets as Research Subjects in the Laboratory. In Preparation of Animals for Use in the Laboratory. ILAR Journal 47(4):348–357.

6. Conour, LA, Murray, KA and Brown, MJ 2006. Preparation of Animals for Research – Issues to Consider for Rodents and Rabbits. In Preparation of Animals for Use in the Laboratory. ILAR Journal 47(4):283–293.

Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, Eighth Edition

5. Hicks TA et al Behavioral, endocrine, immune, and performance measures for pigs exposed to acute stress. J Anim Sci 1998 Feb 76(2):474–83

4. Mahuren, JD et al. Adrenocorticotropic hormone increases hydrolysis of B-6 vitamins in swine adrenal glands. J Nutr 1999 Oct 129(10):1905–8.

3. McGlone, JJ et al. Shipping stress and social status effects on pig performance, plasma cortisol, natural killer cell activity, and leukocyte numbers. J Anim Sci 1993 Apr 71(4):888–96.

[Jennifer A. Obernier and Ransom L. Baldwin, 2007. Establishing an Appropriate Period of Acclimatization Following Transportation of Laboratory Animals. ILAR Journal 47(4).]

Smith, AC and Swindle, M 2006. Preparation of Swine for the Laboratory. In Preparation of Animals for Use in the Laboratory. ILAR Journal 47(4):358–363.

History

Effective Date: 05/07/2024
Next Review Date: 05/06/2027

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