Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals - Office of ...

VETERINARy CARE10from these sources and the potential for introducing health risks to personneland other facility animals. Breeding colonies should be established basedon need and managed according to principles of animal reduction such ascryopreservation for rodent stocks or strains (Robinson et al. 2003).Transportation of AnimalsTransportation of animals is governed by a number of US regulatoryagencies and international bodies. The Animal Welfare Regulations (USDA1985) set standards for interstate and export/import transportation of regulatedspecies; the International Air Transport Association (IATA) updates theLive Animals Regulations annually and IATA member airlines and manycountries agree to comply with these regulations to ensure the safe andhumane transport of animals by air (IATA 2009). The Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention and USDA enforce regulations to prevent the introduction,transmission, or spread of communicable diseases and regulate theimportation of any animal or animal product capable of carrying a zoonoticdisease. The US Fish and Wildlife Service regulates importation/exportationof wild vertebrate and invertebrate animals and their tissues. As the nationalauthority arm of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Speciesof Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the US Fish and Wildlife Service alsoregulates movement of CITES-listed species that are captive bred, includingnonhuman primates (DOI 2007). Institutions should contact appropriateauthorities to ensure compliance with any relevant statutes and otheranimal transportation requirements that must be met for animals to crossinternational boundaries, including those not of the country of final destination.The NRC publication Guidelines for the humane Transportationof Research Animals provides a comprehensive review of this topic (NRC2006); additional references on transportation of animals are available inAppendix A.Animal transportation may be intrainstitutional, interinstitutional, orbetween a commercial or noncommercial source and a research facility.For wildlife, transportation may occur between the capture site and fieldholding facilities. Careful planning for all types of transportation shouldoccur to ensure animal safety and well-being. The process of transportationshould provide an appropriate level of animal biosecurity (see definition onpage 109) while minimizing zoonotic risks, protecting against environmentalextremes, avoiding overcrowding, providing for the animals’ physical,physiologic, or behavioral needs and comfort, and protecting the animalsand personnel from physical trauma (Maher and Schub 2004).Movement of animals within or between sites or institutions should beplanned and coordinated by responsible and well-trained persons at thesending and receiving sites to minimize animal transit time or delays in