Training in Laboratory Animal Care

Training in laboratory animal science has developed as the field of science in recent past. Laboratory Animal Care staff doing animal husbandry practices, are required to acquire modern scientific knowledge of a variety of laboratory animal species, (Stephens 1999).

The impact of Good Laboratory Practice regulations and principles should consider when examining effective animal husbandry and veterinary training programs. Regulatory authorities and contract clients-sponsors require that animal care programs provide adequate formal or informal training for their personnel. A comprehensive training program should be designed that will support an appropriate standard for animal care and use.

Training programs for animal care and veterinary staff should be tailored to the types of responsibilities these individuals have in supporting the animal research program within the animal facility of the organisation.

• Involving duties of caring for animals and performing basic procedures;
• providing health care to animals in quarantine,
• Sanitation involving the operations of a cage wash and other related units;
• procurement of animals and resources;
• providing training for research and animal care staff; and
• supervision and management of Animal Research Facility

Training should be aimed at both the acquisition of knowledge and skills for completing specific tasks in the animal research facility and the professional development of staff within the laboratory animal science field. Training for essential knowledge and skills to perform assigned tasks is an obvious priority. Training programs should be dynamic with built-in mechanisms for continual refinement and updates. Professional development is of vital importance for staff to perceive themselves as pursuing a meaningful career with opportunities for advancement within the institution and the profession.

Staff should embody professionalism in the performance of their duties and in their interactions with research staff. We need to make educational materials available to them for the training of staff in key areas of laboratory animal science.

 Training Topics

?Orientation and Ethics

It is essential to orient incoming employees regarding their role in a highly specialised field. Orientation should also be provided for those involving working with animals. Specifically, training should focus on the following important topics:

(1) The purpose of biomedical research and testing,

 (2) The scientific and economic value of the animals as research models

(3) The standards of animal care and health with the integrity of research data,

(4) The regulatory requirements and policies for animal research,

(5) The public concerns over animal research, and

(6) The responsibilities of animal care staff at all levels.

The ethics of animal research may be explained through a discussion of the following key regulatory requirements that govern the conduct of animal care and use in research:

• Animal Welfare Act and Regulations
• The Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
• Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

In all three documents, guidance in animal research ethics focuses on a consideration of the alternatives to the use of animals—replacement, reduction, and refinement (the 3Rs; Russell and Burch 1959). An introduction to these principles will help explain how the institution's control systems for approving and monitoring the use of animals in the facility operate to support animal welfare within the context of research. Study Director’s roles may be related to the 3R principles; In addition, those who are involved in animal research should be trained in animal welfare based on the job descriptions.

A vehicle driver would be expected to transport animals gently to minimise their stress during transit;

• An animal procurement specialist who accurately places an order for rodents will avoid a waste of animal lives if the wrong strain is received;
• An animal care staff's attention to abnormalities in animal behavior or physical condition, curtailing animal pain or distress; and
• A attending veterinarian may contribute to provide caring for the animals as per animal welfare principles.

 Basic Animal Facility Operations

Training in basic facility operations provides the foundation upon which an animal facility can successfully maintain disease-free animals and enable animal research to be performed with the highest quality of care. Animal husbandry staff must understand the fundamental differences between barrier and non barrier housing mechanisms when both types exist within one animal program. For both types of facility operations, training should cover the following topics (Littlefield et al. 1980):

1. Facility security including entry and exit procedures
2. Traffic flow for people, cages, animals, and equipment in to the facility
3. operations  for cage wash, and use of sterilisers;
4. Air flow, temperature and humidity controls, monitoring systems, and alarms;
5. Occupational health and safety programs and requirements including appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE ) usage;

6.     Communication procedures for study Directors, Animal Care Staff, Attending Veterinarian and Test Facility Management,

7.     Cleaning and sanitation procedures at levels of the primary enclosure, secondary enclosure, room, and facility; and

8.     Waste disposal for animal-related, hazardous, and nonhazardous waste.

The importance of air flows, temperature and relative humidity for preventing the spread of disease must be explained to the staff working in barrier facilities. Related standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be used as training tools.

Animal Health Procedures

The key role of the laboratory animal research staff and animal care takers is to safeguard the welfare of the animals while supporting the research through daily activities of animal care and animal research facility. Laboratory animal research staff operating at all level should be knowledgeable in these concepts and in any specific procedures for animal health care that are relevant to their duties.

A basic knowledge of behavior, biology, and care is inherent in the animal care takers’ ability to perform their job well. Initial and ongoing training in these areas serves as the crux of the ability of personnel to recognize early signs of pain and distress in research animals. The cumulative expertise of Study Director,

 Attending Veterinarian and Animal Care Staff should be included in the overall training of animal care on the different animal species. Special emphasis should be given to species-specific behavior, biology, and care to avoid problems when the study directors are away from the facility during weekends, holidays, vacations, and other leave. Special training will be necessary on different animal species and research procedures to which they may be exposed. When an unusual, novel research methodology is used by researchers, animal research staff may need training on the methodology, research purposes, and potential risks.

Animal receiving is the first place where animals may require health care intervention; these considerations have become more important where domestic and international animal shipments between institutions have become routine. The training of animal receiving staff should cover shipment identification, handling, and routing of animals to housing areas or to quarantine facilities for veterinary evaluation, testing, and/or treatments. Animal receiving staff should be trained on procedures for avoiding the transmission of infectious organisms between incoming or outgoing animal shipments. It is also important that they recognise situations in which animals may require immediate veterinary care upon arrival and that they know the communication channels to quickly inform attending veterinarian.

Person concern, which is responsible for the quarantine/containment facilities are often health care/veterinarian. These individuals should be knowledgeable about basic containment procedures, the methods for controlling infections, the duration of confinement, and the use of PPE, and animal conditioning when necessary ( Everitt and Schapiro 2006 ). Veterinarian should be competent in procedures for physical examination, biological sample collection and processing, diagnostic testing, medicating animals, and performing necropsies. They should also be prepared to handle the requests of researchers, as allowed, for access to the animals or biological samples while the animals remain in quarantine.

Attending Veterinary and Study Directors have greater responsibilities in an animal health program in addition to the functions mentioned above. Generally, these staff members require the knowledge and skills to perform aseptic technique, monitor animals after surgery or on treatment, and support or conduct veterinary procedures for diagnosis, treatment, or surgery. Attending Veterinarian, who have completed a 2-year work experience and training are ideal for providing animal health support for each species with which they work, Veterinarian who is performing anesthesia on research animals should be knowledgeable in the practical pharmacology of the analgesics, anesthetics, and reversal agents used—specifically the route and dose of administration and type and duration of drug effect. Training should be ongoing as information becomes available on new drug agents, doses, and drug effects. Veterinarian should be trained on the observation of vital signs and the use of specific monitoring devices to assess the physiological status of animals under anesthesia. Knowledge of aseptic technique is essential and applicable to a variety of tasks such as sample collection, organ collection and gross pathology. Veterinarians are called upon to perform more advanced procedures for biological sampling such as vascular catheterization and serial blood collections.

Veterinarian should be educated about the principles of OECD GLP principles and regulations, and guidelines that govern animal medical records and related documentation and they must be trained to implement the standard operating procedures. Examples of procedures to be documented are physical examinations, vaccinations, diagnostic tests, anesthesia, surgeries, and necropsies.

In addition, veterinarian should be knowledgeable on the requirements for using only unexpired drugs and medical materials and for the appropriate disposal of these items when expired. They should also know which drugs are controlled substances, per the Drug Enforcement Administration and state and local laws, and be trained on record-keeping requirements for controlled substances. They have a responsibility for distributing controlled analgesics and anesthetics for use in animals in research laboratories under the terms of license that is maintained by a attending veterinarian or other institutional official. These individuals typically train other staff regarding compliance with these drug laws.

Recognizing Pain and Distress

Study Directors who work with animals should receive training on recognizing pain and distress appropriate to their level of interaction with the animals. The recognition of pain and distress in animals is very important during the conduct of the study and task such as observing or feeding animals, administering treatments, and transporting animals around the facility. Animal Care Staff should receive training on the normal appearance and behaviors of the species of animals under their care with a special focus on the abnormalities that occur most commonly. Animal care staff who change cages should be trained to closely observe each animal they handle or view in its cage. They should have sufficient knowledge to recognize an abnormal appearance and/or behavior based on normal animals of the same species, strain, research group, and age.

New veterinary technicians may not have had training to work with a particular animal species used in research; however, with training on the unique biology, physiology, and behaviors of the laboratory animal species in use at the facility, these individuals can readily apply knowledge and skills learned in schooling and prior work experience to their duties of physical examination, animal monitoring, and veterinary care. Study Directors and Animal care staff should be trained on the institutional policies and procedures related to pain and distress, and on humane endpoints relating to causes that are common in the research (e.g., surgery, tumors, sample collection, animal identification methods, and infectious diseases)

Training should include the institutional procedures of reporting and documenting observations of problems to Study Directors, veterinary staff, and/or researchers; recognizing and addressing animal emergencies (e.g., poor vital signs, injury, escape); and handling special circumstances (e.g., animals found dead). Additionally, personnel should be informed about specific exemptions to humane endpoints approved on study plan for particular animals.

Animal Research Policies

Study Director and Animal Care Staff should be taught about the institutional animal research policies that control the use of animals and specify restrictions on procedures in the areas where these individuals work. These policies are derived from the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India as well as Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals or the Animal Welfare Act and Regulations. Study Directors and animal care staff whose duties mainly comprise husbandry should receive general training on institutional policies for the following areas:

1. Animal restraint devices—common types, proper use, and limits in duration;
2. Food/water restriction—limits related to species and procedures for requesting, implementing, and discontinuing restrictions;
3. Animal identification—allowable methods by species, and interpretation of identification numbering systems;
4. Analgesia and anesthesia—requirements for other staff to alleviate animal pain, signs of pain related to species, and procedures for reporting an animal in pain;
5. Surgery—locations where survival and non survival surgeries may be performed by staff;
6. Animal monitoring—the responsibility of staff for monitoring the animals on study (e.g., post surgically) and the location of medical records; and
7. Euthanasia—allowable methods by species, proper technique, and recognition of improper technique.

Veterinarian and study Director have the responsibilities for carrying out various animal procedures and training others in these procedures. Therefore, they should be well trained with extensive detail on each of the institution's animal care and use policies. Additional knowledge is needed by veterinarian on the following topics:

1. Sample collection—volume and frequency restrictions by species; DNA collection methods in rodents;
2. Analgesia and anesthesia—drug agents and methods for administering drugs, animal monitoring, and procuring and preparing pharmaceuticals;
3. Surgery—types of surgeries that may be performed and those for which aseptic technique is required; methods for instrument and materials sterilization, aseptic technique, and animal preparation;
4. Animal monitoring—methods of animal monitoring; completing and maintaining medical records;
5. Euthanasia—allowable methods by species, proper technique, and recognition of improper technique; and
6. Training—methods to train animal husbandry and research staff on appropriate animal care and use.

Good Laboratory Practice regulated study, for which staff sign off on raw data and room environmental and animal care records to be archived. These individuals should be instructed on appropriate document control measures, signing procedures, and the study archival process.

Equipment and Instruments

Laboratory animal science has equipment of in all areas of animal care and use. Examples include environmental monitoring systems, watering systems, cage washing, bedding disposal and removal, autoclaves or other sterilizing systems, laminar flow and Biosafety cabinets, inhalant anesthesia machines, diagnostic biochemistry analysers Surgical instruments and equipment require special knowledge for the proper use, safe handling, and disposal of reagents or other materials, and disinfection between uses, such that these items are often managed by veterinarians and Study Directors.  Laboratory animal care staff and Study Directors require specific training on the operation, calibration, safety, and maintenance of any complex equipment they use in carrying out their duties.

Emergency Procedures

All animal care personnel should be trained on the scope of veterinary care which constitutes an animal medical emergency. They should convey to the veterinarian so that he or she will be able to attend to an emergency (Slauter 2003). Veterinary contact information should be posted visibly in animal facilities, and personnel should be trained on using communication systems) to contact veterinarian. The establishment of institutional

Animal facilities should have a disaster plan that documents procedures to follow emergencies. Institutions should ensure that all animal care staff members are well aware of the disaster plan and the policies and procedures to follow in case of facility emergencies. Periodic sham tests of the disaster plan (fire drills) should be organised to train and refresh personnel on procedures. This will also help management in detecting weaknesses in the plan and in facilitating improved training. Animal care staff should also be trained in the correct methods for testing emergency equipment so that they know their operations and maintain proper functioning.

Occupational Health and Safety

According to the publication Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Research Animals, an effective occupational health and safety program is based on seven key factors: (1) knowing the hazards, (2) avoiding and controlling exposures, (3) training and education, (4) rules and guidelines, (5) consistency, (6) recordkeeping and monitoring, and (7) commitment and coordination. The training and education of animal care personnel as part of an overall occupational health and safety program should include topics mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the hazards and risks associated with working in a laboratory animal facility, SOPs for working safely in the facility, and mechanisms for reporting exposures, injuries, or illnesses. OSHA-mandated training topics include emergency exit, hazard communication, , respiratory protection, personal protective equipment, handling hazardous materials, handling hazardous waste, and first aid.. Training on the risks associated with working in a laboratory animal facility should focus on laboratory animal allergies, Zoonotic diseases, physical hazards, and protocol-associated hazards.

Physical hazards in a laboratory animal facility include falls, sharps, bites, scratches, kicks, equipment (electric and mechanical hazards), excessive noise, compressed gas cylinders, and caustic chemicals. Basic safety training typically provided by institutional health and safety or human resources departments can address most of these hazards, which are inherent in any working laboratory; however, training for animal-associated risks is typically provided by animal facility staff or outside consultants with appropriate expertise.

Humane and proper handling of laboratory animals must be emphasized at all times throughout the training program in a comprehensive effort to decrease the risk of animal bites, scratches, This instruction should also include training on animal behavior, humane restraint (physical and chemical methods), barrier husbandry, sample collection techniques, animal transport, PPE, SOPs, and other animal handling methods in an effort to advance safe working practices ( NRC 1997 ). Training is also essential to decrease the hazards associated with animal caging and to avoid injuries from such equipment. Special attention should be paid to the training of individuals working with nonhuman primates ( NRC 1997 ). For work in areas that have a high level of noise (e.g., in cage wash units, dog kennels, and swine rooms), it may be necessary for personnel to receive training as part of an OSHA or institutionally mandated hearing protection plan. This training should include the hazards associated with noise and the use of hearing protection devices (CFR 2003).

It is also important for occupational safety training to include ergonomic concepts and strategies for animal care staff whose jobs involve repetitive tasks and demands on strength and endurance, which are common characteristics of animal care functions. Basic components of ergonomics training include the risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders MSD, and training on new equipment designed to lessen the risk of development of MSDs.( (Kerst 2003 ; NRC 1997 ).

Training associated with protocol-related hazards such as new or unusual animal species, chemical or physical hazards, biological agents, and equipment should involve the collaborative efforts of researchers, veterinarians, animal facility managers, health and safety professionals, and the IAEC. Depending on the likelihood of exposure to the hazards, animal care and veterinary staff should be trained on the risks, the control measures to reduce or eliminate the risks, and the clinical symptoms if exposure occurs. Training on Biosafety can be re-emphasized or expanded to encompass specific protocol-related hazards

Refresher Training and Retraining

The training program should include a component of routine refresher training to keep staff current on updates in knowledge, practices, procedures, and, most importantly, safety-related topics (Goral 2005). For routine training, the term "refresher training" is preferred because it may be more appealing than the term "retraining" (Pritchett 2003). As described above, updates can be communicated many ways such as in newsletters, posters/flyers, e-mails, and staff meetings. Formal refresher training should be planned and scheduled regularly with timely and relevant topics (e.g., institutional policies, animal welfare, occupational health and safety), which are likely to change frequently. Refresher training should also incorporate "core ideas" such as ethics, institutional mission, and reporting animal welfare concerns ( Pritchett 2003 ). Refresher training on animal welfare regulations and institutional policies is expected at 2-year intervals, but the interval can be highly variable due to institutional change, subject matter, and past experiences

Retraining generally refers to corrective training for noncompliance and work performance issues among staff members. Retraining should be as thorough as initial training. In many cases, an in-depth second presentation of initial training information is needed so that staff can fully understand the proper policies and procedures to avoid subsequent repetition of mistakes.

Training Documentation

Many regulatory agencies like GLP and AAALAC specify the need for training documentation. Training documentation should comprise a report of activities in all types and methods of training and should include refresher training and retraining (Pritt et al. 2004).

 In such documentation, institutions typically include the date of training, name of the trainee, name of the trainer and/or training modality, presentation title and/or general training content, and management acknowledgment.

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ILAR Journal, Volume 48, Issue 2, 1 January 2007, Pages 109–119, https://doi.org/10.1093/ilar.48.2.109 Published: 01 April 2007

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Abbreviations used in this article: 3Rs, refinement, reduction, replacement;

 AAALAC, Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International;

 AALAS, American Association for Laboratory Animal Science;

ABSL, Animal Biosafety Level;

 BMBL, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories ;

 CD, compact disc;

CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

DEA, Drug Enforcement Administration;

DVD, digital video disc;

 IACUC, institutional animal ca