UNSW Veterinary Guidelines, Monitoring Sheets and Templates

Guidelines

• UNSW ACEC Guidelines on the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a method of euthanasia for laboratory mice and rats
• UNSW ACEC Guideline for the euthanasia of embryonic, foetal and early neonate animals
• Summary of the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2020 Edition: Common Laboratory Animals and Wildlife
• UNSW ACEC Guidelines for Monitoring and Management of Rectal Prolapse in Mice
• UNSW ACEC Guidelines for the Management of Gastrointestinal Stasis in Rabbits
• UNSW ACEC Guidelines on administration of substances and blood collection Mouse
• UNSW ACEC Guidelines on administration of substances and blood collection Rat
• UNSW ACEC Guidelines on administration of substances and blood collection Rabbit
• UNSW ACEC Guidelines on administration of substances and blood collection Guinea Pigs
• UNSW Formulary for Commonly Used Drugs in Research Animals
• Guideline for the humane killing of animals during emergency evacuation 

The Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes 8th edition, 2013, specifies requirements for monitoring of animals. This includes details of how the wellbeing of animals will be monitored and assessed throughout the project, the frequency of monitoring and assessment, the actions to be taken if problems are identified, and the criteria for intervention points and humane endpoints.

Records of monitoring and assessment of animal wellbeing must be sufficient to enable the AEC to verify that the wellbeing of animals has been monitored as agreed, and allow review and critical investigation of the cause(s) of and responses to unexpected adverse events as a basis for future prevention strategies. The records must be accessible to all people involved in the care of the animal and available for audit by the institution, the AEC and authorised external reviewers.

To assist researchers with their animal ethics application, examples of monitoring sheets are provided. These can be modified to suit individual research protocols.

Available samples of Monitoring Sheets:

• ACEC Animal Monitoring Sheet
• ACEC Cage Monitoring Sheet
• ACEC Anaesthetic Monitoring Sheet
• ACEC Post-Surgical Monitoring Sheet
• ACEC Tumour progression Monitoring Sheet
• ACEC Aged Mice Monitoring Sheet

Templates

• Tolerability Report Template
• Pilot Study Template
• Unexpected Adverse Event Report Template
• Breeding Report Template with Explanation

Forms

• Animal Transfer Request Form
• Free Living Animals (FLA1) Form