VIII. Animal Surgery Procedures

Experimental surgery is a powerful tool that enables researchers to obtain data that cannot be obtained otherwise. Animal welfare regulations and guidelines place great emphasis on the proper performance of surgery, as does the Animal Care and Facilities Committee (the "Committee") in its review of animal use protocols. Surgery should be done in accordance with the principles set forth in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the "Guide"). Properly performed surgery promotes animal welfare and good science. Students who learn good surgical technique will be able to apply their knowledge of specific procedures to other procedures in many species. Surgery performed without proper anesthesia, monitoring and post-operative care can result in poor research data, unnecessary use of animals, and animal suffering. Animal surgery can be expensive. The Committee recognizes the concerns of researchers about the costs of implementing animal use regulations. the committee feels the following guidelines allow reasonable accommodations for cost while meeting the spirit of animal welfare regulations and promoting good science.

These guidelines have been adopted by the Rutgers Animal Care and Facilities Committee to inform investigators of performance standards for rodent and non-rodent survival surgery at Rutgers. Principle investigators approved to do survival rodent or non-rodent surgery must follow the respective guidelines unless exceptions are granted by the Committee. Investigators are responsible for training and monitoring the surgery of all personnel who work in their laboratory.

Below are the University Policy on Performing Rodent Survival Survival Surgery and the University Policy on Perfroming Non-Rodent Surgery. The two documents are very similair but contain some key differences. It is important that the investigator be familiar with the respective policy before any proceedure is performed.

University Policy on Performing Rodent Survival Surgery
University Policy on Performing Non-rodent Survival Surgery

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