From the Vets

Veterinary Oversight

Whether veterinary oversight is a condition of your ethics approval, or you’re looking to refine your practices with veterinary input, the Veterinary Services Team are available to assist you.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, social distancing restrictions must be adhered to. Prior to the veterinarians attending for planned oversight activities, please ensure that you have assessed the proposed work area with your local area contact responsible for assessing and approving the safe occupancy of the required work space (this refers to the 1.5m distancing between individuals and the space in the room of 4m2 per individual). If the safe occupancy and social distancing requirements cannot be met you will need to consult your local WH&S advisor; the completion of a risk assessment that includes additional controls such as personal protective equipment (PPE) may be sufficient in minimising risks. Evidence that the required assessments have been undertaken must be provided to the veterinary team in full. Where additional equipment is required, such as PPE, the research group must provide this. Adhering to the COVID-19 restrictions does not negate the need to arrange veterinary oversight where it is a condition of an AEEC approval.

The ANU procedure for managing Unexpected Adverse Events remains unchanged, please phone the vets as usual on the emergency number 6125 1130 ASAP. They will work with you quickly to ensure social distancing requirements can be met while they undertake any urgent assessments of animal wellbeing.

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Veterinary Advice and Direction

The ANU Veterinarians are a valuable source for advice in planning and preparing your animal ethics application and responding in emergency situations. They are also available to provide ongoing advice, support and training in advanced techniques. They continue to be available for advice and emergencies during the COVID-19 response and you are encouraged to contact them as usual. It is important that advice and direction set by the ANU Veterinarians is followed. If there are circumstances where it is difficult to follow veterinary direction or you are unsure how to proceed at any time then this should be discussed with the ANU Veterinarians who are available at all times on 6125 1130. The ANU Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee expects that those undertaking animal based research at the ANU to follow the professional advice provided by the Vets. In the event that it is not followed the AEEC would expect a full justification addressing animal welfare issues in particular.

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NC3Rs Training Modules

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is a UK organisation that creates a number of useful resources for use in research. Recently they have published a number of free e-learning resources centred on laboratory animal anaesthesia and the recognition of pain and distress in laboratory animals. These modules are very useful and highly recommended for those undertaking work with rodents, in particular for those undertaking anaesthesia procedures. ANU will look to adopt these training modules in the near future as part of their required training pathway for staff working with rodents. Modules are available here. Practical training in anaesthesia use is still required in addition to these theory courses and can be arranged through contacting the Veterinary Services Team at vetservices.rsd@anu.edu.au.

Submission Deadline Dates

The next Animal Ethics submission deadline dates are:

> COB Wed, 1 July
> COB Wed, 29 July
> COB Wed, 26 August