Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
effect of cage accessories and social housing of animals on
regulatory compliance. For example, in the US regulations,
low perches that do not allow animals' access to the floor
beneath them are considered as part of the floor area (
US
Department of Agriculture, 1991
). If two or more primates
are housed in the same enclosure, the cage floor area must
be the sum of the space required for both animals, and the
cage height must meet the minimum height requirement for
the largest animal. An exception to this is: mothers with
infants less than 6 months of age may be housed together in
primary enclosures that comply with the minimum floor
area and height standards for the mother (
US Department of
Agriculture, 1991
). The US regulations do allow exceptions
for innovative enclosures that do not comply with the
minimum space requirements; however, these innovations
must allow sufficient space and opportunity for the animals
to express species-typical behaviors and must be approved
by the institutional animal care and use committee or by
the USDA. An example that might be approved would be
a cage where the floor area was a bit smaller than
regulations require, but the cage height and furnishings
provided considerably more volume and more climbing
opportunities.
Increasingly, pharmaceutical companies conducting
research and testing using nonhuman primate subjects are
becoming multinational and they are subject to the minimum
cage size regulations for the countries where they are actually
utilizing the animals. Multinational research programs may
wish to consider standardizing cage sizes used to the largest
sizes mandated in the countries in which they operate.
The overall dimensions of caging also must be selected
with consideration of the size of corridors, animal rooms,
doorways, and cage washers in the facility. Cages should be
able to be placed in animal rooms so that animals can see
other animals and positioned so that personnel can safely
walk in front of the cages without being touched by animals
housed in the cages. A distance of 5 feet 6 inches to 7 feet
0 inches has been recommended (
Bohm and Kreitlein, 2009
).
4.
protect animals from injury;
5.
contain animals securely and prevent accidental
opening by animals or personnel;
6.
keep other unwanted animals from entering the
enclosure or having physical contact with nonhuman
primates;
7.
enable animals to remain clean and dry;
8.
provide shelter and protection from extreme weather
conditions;
9.
provide shade to shelter all animals simultaneously in
the enclosure;
10.
provide animals with easy and convenient access to
clean food and water;
11.
provide that all surfaces which may come in contact
with the primates be easily cleaned, sanitized, or
replaced when worn or soiled;
12.
have floors constructed in a manner that protects
nonhuman primates from injuring themselves;
13.
provide sufficient space for nonhuman primates to
make normal postural adjustments with freedom of
movement.
Other standards and guidelines state similar requirements
regarding the design and quality of primary enclosures. The
Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
(
National Research Council (Institute of Laboratory
Animal Resources), 1996
;
National Research Council
(Institute for Laboratory Animal Research), 2011
) outlines
similar requirements. The European Union Directive
(
European Parliament, 2009
) states that, “Animal enclo-
sures shall not be made out of materials detrimental to the
health of the animals. Their design and construction shall
be such that no injury to the animals is caused. Unless they
are disposable, they shall be made from materials that will
withstand cleaning and decontamination techniques. The
design of animal enclosure floors shall be adapted to the
species and age of the animals and be designed to facilitate
the removal of excreta.”
US Standards for Primary Enclosures
The United States Department of Agriculture has estab-
lished specific facilities construction and operating stan-
dards (
US Department of Agriculture, 1991
) for nonhuman
primate housing. These standards include a number of
points that should be kept in mind when selecting and
designing primate housing. They specify that primary
enclosures, whether they are individual cages or large
enclosures designed to house groups of animals, must
comply with the minimum requirements and must:
Considerations for Selection of Enclosure
Type
The types of primary enclosures selected for nonhuman
primates depend upon numerous factors including species,
age, the types of research programs, personnel safety,
animal safety, experience of the staff responsible for animal
care, economic considerations, regulatory requirements,
degree of urbanization surrounding the facility, and climate
of the facility location.
Nonhuman primates are a very diverse group of animals
(
Rowe, 1996
) (also see Chapters 3 and 5). Over 230 species
and subspecies of nonhuman primate ranging in size from
approximately 120 grams to 165 kilograms are recognized
by taxonomists (
Rowe, 1996; Nowak, 1999
). Some species,
1.
be designed and constructed to be structurally sound for
the species of nonhuman primates contained in them;
2.
be kept in good repair;
3.
have no sharp surfaces that could injure animals;
