The ARC recently updated the Policy, Responsibility for Monitoring Laboratory Animals (formerly: Responsibility of Principal Investigators for Monitoring Laboratory Animals). Previously, in addition to routine monitoring of animals carried out by DLAM staff in the vivaria, PIs (or their staff) were required to monitor animals daily once they entered into a study, regardless of the nature of the experiments. According to the revised Policy, “For animals housed in DLAM or Radiation Oncology facilities, routine daily monitoring by facility staff is generally sufficient to ensure animal well-being. However, research staff may also be required to perform additional monitoring of animals when more frequent or specialized monitoring is called for…Such increased monitoring requirements will be documented in the ARC protocol.”
The updated Policy is available at http://ora.research.ucla.edu/OARO/Pages/ARC-policies/monitoring-animals.aspx.
We encourage you to review this policy with your research team to ensure understanding of the responsibilities set forth by the ARC. Please note that you will be held to the monitoring schedule and responsibilities described in your ARC protocols; as such, please review and revise your protocols, if appropriate.
Please do not hesitate to contact us at 310-206-6308 or oaro@research.ucla.edu if you have any questions.