Animal Resource Center

The MPFI Animal Resource Center (ARC) is a full-service AAALACi accredited animal facility that provides husbandry, colony management, and technical services. Led by a Board Certified Laboratory Animal Veterinarian, our customer service model starts first with animals, MPFI researchers, and the general public whose through grants and gifts make it possible produce consistent high quality research that meets the highest standard of ethics and responsibility.

This state-of-the-art animal facility is reviewed semi-annually by the MPFI Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and has been accredited by AAALACi since 2013.

Provided Services include:

• Animal procurement
• Daily husbandry care
• Veterinary medical care, health surveillance, quarantine, and testing
• Provision of facilities and personnel for procedures such as surgery, postoperative care, and necropsy
• Assuring compliance with animal use laws and policies
• Assisting with research, and teaching procedures/protocols that use animals

The MPFI Animal Resource Center is committed to using best practices when it comes to caring for the animals in our facility. The Animal Welfare Act and The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (ILAR Guide) detail basic behavioral management expectations in the broad areas of structural environment, social environment, and activity. General laboratory animal expectations assume that animals that are relaxed and comfortable and able to express species specific behaviors are a more stable research platform and provide more accurate research data.

AAALACi Accreditation

The MPFI ARC is accredited by AAALACi, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

An Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is a local working group that research facilities must appoint in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.  At least one member of the IACUC must be a veterinarian with the responsibility for providing care to the animals used in research and one must be a public member not affiliated with the institution in any way other than performing IACUC duties.

Among the most important IACUC functions are to:

• Review and approve proposed activities that will involve animals as well as any significant changes in IACUC-approved proposals that may arise later.  These proposals must be approved by the IACUC before activity begins and provide detailed information such as assurances that alternatives to potentially painful procedures were actively considered, that a veterinarian was consulted in the design of the project to assure that pain or distress animals might experience will be avoided or minimized and that the project does not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments.
• Inspect all animal facilities and study areas every six months.
• Monitor the institution’s program for humane care and use of animals; evaluate compliance with the AWA, PHS Policy and other requirements and report to the responsible institutional official and federal agencies as described in their respective rules.

The Animal Resource Center is dedicated to ensuring that animals in our care are kept in the best possible conditions.

Housing

We are proud to be a Tecniplast Center of Excellence, featuring individual ventilated housing with stand alone air handling and microbiological filters

Food and Water

We provide quality, species-specific diets and automatic watering capabilities. Water is softened, de-chlorinated, put through reverse osmosis, and UV treated.

Enrichments

Below are examples of enrichments that we provide our animals.

• Manipulanda (toys, tubes etc.)
• Novel food and foraging opportunities (seeds, seed hulls, cereal, treats, vegetables)
• Exercise (connecting multiple cages together)
• Sensory enrichment (sounds, spices, essential oils)

• AAALAC – Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care

• AALAS – American Association for Laboratory Animal Science

• APA Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in the Care & Use of Animals

• AVMA – American Veterinary Medical Association

• AWIC – Animal Welfare Information Center

• Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th ed. (pdf)

• ILAR – Institute for Laboratory Animal Research

• NABR – National Association for Biomedical Research

• NIH – National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare

• USDA – United States Department of Agriculture