|
All animal facilities at the University of Western come under the
auspices of : The Canadian Council on Animal Care
- The CCAC is a
peer review organization which visits and makes recommendations to
animal facilities in Canada.. Unlike the system in the United
States our federal system is not legislated. Despite this it is
extremely well respected throughout the world. The CCAC makes
site visits to facilities every three years. In rare cases were
an institution has demonstrated excellence in their animal care and
use program site visits are scheduled once
in six years. This is the situation at UWO. We are
very proud of this accomplishment and will strive to maintain our
standing following our next visit. The 'Animals for Research Act' which is administered by
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs.
Visits by the OMAFRA inspector are unannounced. Any deficiencies
noted by the inspector must be corrected. Since this is
legislation the potential for fines and even imprisonment exist if
major problems or animal abuse was noted. The
University Council on
Animal Care (UCAC) is a senate subcommittee that oversees animal care and use
at Western. The
Animal Use
Subcommittee (AUS) is a subcommittee of the University Council
on Animal Care. Its responsibilities include the review of all animal
use protocols and site visits to all laboratories and facilities that
hold or use animals at the University of Western Ontario and
affiliates. |
