Animal Care

Guide to the Responsible Care & Use of Laboratory Animals at UWM

Chapter VII:   Animal Procurement

ANIMAL PROCUREMENT

The veterinarian is available to assist you in making animal purchases. A file on animal vendors is maintained in the Department of University Safety and Assurances.

When purchasing animals, please be aware that not all vendors sell specific pathogen free animals. It is advisable that you request health monitoring quality control reports from the vendor of your choice.

Whenever you may be sharing a room with someone else’s animals, please check with the veterinarian prior to selecting your vendor to make sure you are not introducing potential disease to existing colonies.

Each investigator has been requested to notify the veterinarian of animal purchase orders, so we can be sure that a protocol form is filed and approved prior to animal use and so that animals can be examined upon arrival.

The animal order form can be found under animal orders on the animal care program’s webpage: http://www.safety.uwm.edu/. This needs to be completed and approved by the lab manager or veterinarian prior to ordering the animals to be sure that adequate staffing and space are available for them and that an approved protocol is on file.

Updated November 13, 2006 by SAK