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Division of Animal Resources
One John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV 25755
(304) 696- 7374 | fax: (304) 696-3777
Please visit our website - http://musom.marshall.edu/arf/
Billy W. Howard. DVM, Director
Email: howardb@marshall.edu
Mission Statement
The mission of the Division of Animal Resources (DAR) is to provide professional
animal support services to the faculty, staff and students at Marshall
University.
The use of animals for teaching and research is a fundamental part of biology
and medicine. Suitable animals are required for investigative and teaching
purposes. Proper care and management of these animals is both a scientific
necessity and a legal requirement.
Animals are sentient beings. This principle entails that the minimization of
distress, pain and suffering is a moral imperative. Unless the contrary is
established, investigators should consider that procedures that cause pain or
distress in humans may cause pain or distress in other sentient animals. Animal
use is a privilege granted to the scientific community by the public and its
policy making institutions. Along with this privilege goes the ethical
responsibility for their humane care and proper use. The University, the
individual investigator and each staff member must share in this partnership of
responsibility.
Compliance and Accreditation
Marshall University is registered as a Research Facility with the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA). The animal facilities maintained by the DAR
are inspected periodically by USDA/APHIS/REAC veterinary medical officers and
have been found to be in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and USDA
regulations.
The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), an NIH agency, has accepted
Marshall University's description of the animal care and use program as well as
the animal welfare assurance statement. This assurance describes the commitment
of this university to comply with the Public Health Service Policy on Humane
Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and with the "Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals" (NIH).
Accreditation of the Marshall University program for the care and use of
animals by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal
Care (AAALAC) International has been maintained since 1986. Site visits are
conducted every 3 years.
All aspects of the Marshall University animal care and use program are reviewed
semiannually by the University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
A letter summarizing the findings is sent to the Marshall University
Institutional Official (Animal Welfare Act) who is appointed by the Marshall
University President.
Guide
http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/labrats/
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