CACC Recommendations
– Information regarding specific signs and symptoms such as organ system(s) affected, progression of symptoms, and time course of disease condition for relevant strain and experimental protocol be made available for all involved animal users for more precise and objectively health monitoring of research animals
– Adequate training: completion of theoretical courses, in-house hands-on training
– Compliance to standard operating procedures (SOPs)
In Actuality:
- Problem 1: Lack of relevant background information of animals (IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS!!!)
– New technicians often NOT given instructions or recommended to acquire knowledge regarding strain specific anatomy, physiology, behaviour, and special care that research mice require
– Technicians CANNOT objectively compare their observed animal’s condition to a normal and healthy standard
– Technicians UNABLE TO resolve unexpected animal emergencies
– Example: Seizure-prone mice that needed to be gently and quietly handled were exposed to light and movement too quickly upon cage changing and in several cases died immediately after an episode
- Improvement plan 1:
– Implementation of regulations that require animal care staff to obtain relevant knowledge regarding the animals before they are allowed to work with them (e.g, through the form of a written exam)
- Problem 2: Lack of hands-on training (WORDS =/= ACTION)
– Institutes often ASSUME technicians can learn animal husbandry by reading Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and completing related online courses
– Some facilities are strict barrier-type facility (e.g. CDM), and it is DIFFICULT for technicians to handle mice in cumbersome personal protective equipment and under constrictive biological safety cabinets
– Example: Inexperienced technician mishandled and allowed a wild-derived mouse to escape its cage, then in frantic attempt to capture them ended up seriously injuring the animal by smashing the its neck and limbs with the metal food hopper.
- Improvement Plan 2:
– Developing and offering mandatory modular training courses with consistent content, readily accessible training aid, and set amount of allocated training time to all animal care personnel
– Research animal institutes can control their technicians’ quality by hiring only those with Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS) certification
I am so glad to hear someone else who noticed the lack of education and training processed by animal care technicians! I used to work in biomedical research myself and was routinely astonished at how little training techs received.
I do not blame the technicians – they are only doing the job they were asked to do and hired to do. But I do blame administrators and unions for allowing unskilled individuals to work with animals without proper training and support.