Research with Animals - Bishop's University

The Animal Care Committee (ACC) oversees animal use within Bishop’s jurisdiction to ensure compliance with regulations and ethical guidelines set by the Canadian Council on Animal Care. It reviews and approves teaching and research protocols, preventing any animal-related activities from starting without prior approval. The ACC operates based on the 2006 “Terms of Reference for Animal Care Committees” by the Canadian Council on Animal Care.

IMPORTANT: No research, testing, field work, or teaching activities involving animals commences without prior ACC approval of an animal use protocol and that no animals are acquired or used before such approval is granted.

FACULTY: When working with vertebrate species (including behavioral observations in the field–refer to the CCAC categories of invasiveness) and with invertebrate species with a more highly developed nervous system (i.e. cephalopods) one must submit a protocol to the ACC using the appropriate “Animal Use Form” (either for teaching , for exercise or for research) available in the BU Research Portal. A copy of all relevant permits should be submitted with the application. The supervisor hiring students must submit a “Animal Use Protocol Renewal or Modification Event Form” to add the student to the list of research personnel. This form is can be accessed by clicking the “Events” button on an active protocol.

STUDENTS: Those conducting animal research do not have to submit their own Animal Utilization Form if they are working under a supervisor from Bishop’s who has received approval for their research from the ACC. If the student is conducting research not already approved by the ACC, the supervisor must submit the Animal Use Form and add the student to the personnel list.

Please use the General Guidelines to put in place all the endpoints needed in a protocol before submission.

Tri-Annual Deadlines	Review by Committee
1st March	Mid March
1^st June	Mid June
1^st September	Mid September

ANNUAL ACC REPORTING

An annual report form is required for all completed or continuing research projects utilizing animals. This event form can be accessed by clicking the “Events” button on an active protocol in the B.U. Research Portal. The “Animal Use Annual Report Form” must be submitted by January 15, or the following business day if the 15th of the month falls on a weekend or holiday.

Researchers working as part of a larger team that have already received approval from another institution must still submit an “Animal Use Form” to the B.U. Research Portal. The researcher should clearly indicate where the research fits into the larger project, and should specify what consists of the researchers own work, and what work is being conducted by the group. A copy of all relevant permits and animal care protocols and approvals obtained by the institution animal care ethic committee, should also be submitted to the ACC with the application.

Training is mandatory for all individuals who are working, or intend to work, with animals. This includes all research and teaching personnel from Bishop’s listed in the protocol: investigators, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants, technicians and students. Until personnel have had their competency assessed and been found to be competent to perform the relevant tasks or procedures, any work with animals should be carefully supervised.

Thanks to an agreement with McGill University and Université de Sherbrooke, Bishop’s University’s animal users may obtain a theoretical training in either French (Sherbrooke) or English (McGill) by using the training programs developed by these institutions. They will need to know the material covered in McGill or Université de Sherbrooke websites and successfully pass a multiple-choice test. Practical training is to be obtained through the Principal Investigator who submitted the protocol. Any other training method must be approved by the Animal Care Committee.

If you will work with Wild animals, domesticated amphibians, fish (including Zebrafish), birds and reptiles or, will be performing research in the field you must complete the Basic, Advanced and Wildlife Exam.

Please read the basic, advanced and wildlife sections of the material: McGill Animal Policy & Welfare Oversight Committee (APWOC) – Theory Course
Complete the Basic, Advanced and Wildlife Exam: Basic, Advanced and Wildlife Exam Link (Microsoft Forms)

For all other users, you only need to complete the basic and advanced exam:

Please read the basic and advanced sections of the material: McGill Animal Policy & Welfare Oversight Committee (APWOC) – Theory Course
Complete the Basic and Advanced exam: Basic and Advanced Exam Link (Microsoft Forms)

Once the theoretical training has been successfully completed, copies of your animal user training certificate will be issued and emailed to you and to the Bishop’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

For new ethics submissions, theoretical training certificate(s) should be uploaded to the “Attachments Section” of the protocol, in the BU Research Portal. If you need a replacement copy of your certificate, please contact the Animal Care Training program officer at the appropriate institution. If the training is done after a protocol is approved by the ACC, this training must be declared to the ACC via the “Declaration of Training Event Form”, in the Research Portal. This form can be accessed by clicking the “Events” button on an active protocol.

Please note that theoretical training should be successfully completed prior to practical training. Principal Investigators are responsible for ensuring that all personnel working with animals under their supervision are named on an approved Animal Use Protocol and are adequately trained to carry out procedures on the animals in their care.

The Principal Investigator, in collaboration with the Biology Laboratory Technician, is responsible for training the personnel working with animals, and to verify this training.

The ACC is responsible for verifying that personnel working with animals have the training necessary to appropriately and humanely carry out procedures on animals. The post-approval monitoring program will include assessments of animal users’ competence and may include recommendation for additional training.

Practical training must cover these four components: Basic Biology of the Studied Species, Handling and Restraint, Euthanasia, and Zoonoses and Human Safety. In situations where the ACC has given approval for members of research teams to undertake some animal care tasks, the Husbandry component must also be covered during practical training.

For wildlife studies, if animals are to be held, the Husbandry component should also be covered. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) relevant to the project must also be covered during practical training.

Please note that Principal Investigators who do not carry out procedures on animals can only provide the Basic Biology of the Studied Species component of the practical training to their personnel working with animals. Trained, experienced personnel named on an approved Animal Use Protocol are allowed to carry out practical training of personnel working with animals, alongside the Biology Laboratory Technician. To have a better understanding of the topics that should be included in each Training Component, Appendix 1 – Section 2 of the CCAC Guidelines on Training of Personnel Working With Animals in Sciences (PDF) is a helpful resource. If the expertise to provide adequate practical training to personnel working with animals is not present at the university, other trainers can be suggested by the Principal Investigator. They must be approved by the ACC.

Personnel working with animal who have been trained in animal care and use at other institutions may present evidence of comparable training. If so, the Principal Investigator should provide this evidence in the Ethics submission, in the B.U. Research Portal. The ACC may require additional training for these personnel.

Once the practical training has been successfully completed, the “Declaration of Training” event form must be filled out by the Principal Investigator in the B.U. Research Portal (this can be accessed by clicking the “Events” button on an active protocol) and reviewed by the ACC Chair, in collaboration with the ACC Veterinarian or other competent personnel.

The CCAC requires to report any animal mortality within the required 14-day period and not, during the annual reporting onto Romeo.

Bishop’s University Animal Care Incident Report Form (PDF)

Bishop’s University Crisis Management Plan (PDF)

For further information, please contact the Office of Research and Graduate Studies (researchoffice@UBishops.ca).