IACUC Learning Module - Dogs

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INTRODUCTION

The dog has been a useful model for both biomedical and veterinary research for many years. As early as the 17th century, William Harvey used dogs in heart and circulatory studies. Many years ago, nutrition researchers recognized comparable vitamin deficiency symptoms in the dog and human; dogs strongly influenced the identification of niacin and thiamine deficiencies--pellagra and beriberi, respectively--among humans. In nutrition science today, researchers use dogs in energy metabolism and nutrient toxicity studies, and as a useful model for periodontal disease. The dog is a notable model for work on systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease which also affects humans. Researchers also use dogs to study spontaneous and chemically induced myasthenia gravis, another debilitating disease common to man. Furthermore, malignant canine mammary tumors serve as a model for human breast cancer, and canine transmissible venereal tumors are similar to those found in humans. The list of how the dog is being used to help man understand health and disease is very long; medical advances continue in fields as diverse as aging, anesthesia, pulmonary, neurology, radiology, pharmacology, trauma and shock, and wound healing.

Legal Requirements

There are several specific requirements that must be observed by research and animal care staff:

1. Dogs must be identified at all times with a unique number: at UAC facilities, dogs are assigned a number, starting with the year, then the letter "D," and then an individual number. For example, 96D1 would be the first dog arriving at UAC in 1996.   Dogs must wear this number, written either on their collar, tattooed in their ear, or on a tag placed on a collar. IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT to simply have a cagecard, upon which this number is written.

2. Every dog, on which survival, experimental procedures are conducted, must have a separate procedural/surgical record. Consult the facility veterinarian for specific requirements, but in general, a person should be able to tell exactly when and what was done to a particular dog by reading this record. Items such as drug dosage, time of drug administration, description of surgery or procedure, and the dog's physiologic measurements must be listed on this record. It is very similar to the chart which accompanies a human patient from the time of admission through discharge.

3. Dogs must be given pain relieving drugs for any procedure which causes more pain than that associated with a needle prick, that is, an injection. The only exception to this rule is when the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee decides there is adequate scientific justification for withholding pain relieving drugs.

4. Dogs undergoing survival surgery must have care provided before, during and after the surgery, at a similar level as that afforded to a human patient. Consult the facility veterinarian for additional requirements:
   • examination to ensure dog is suitable candidate for surgery
   • a dedicated surgical suite must be used for procedure
   • aseptic techniques must be observed
     
     • surgeons must scrub and be dressed in sterile garb
     • sterile instruments are used and field is kept sterile
     • one person is assigned to monitor and assist with anesthesia
     • all persons performing or assisting with surgery are properly trained and have the expertise to do the procedure
   • anesthesia and pain relieving drugs must be given, just as though the patient were human.
   • a qualified person will be with the dog, as it recovers from surgery; this person will provide needed support such as intravenous fluids, supplemental oxygen and auxiliary heat.