LAR Standard Operating Procedures

Animal Ordering

Last updated: December 7, 2011

I. Purpose
To standardize the methods for ordering and for assuring housing availability for commercially available laboratory animals used in Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) at The University of Montana.

II. Responsibility
It is the responsibility of the Attending Veterinarian (AV) or his/her designee to order animals for all investigators using LAR facilities for animal housing.

III. Procedure

• Animal users submit an animal order form electronically to the AV or his/her designee with instructions for a requested arrival date of animals. Written forms may also be submitted to the mail box of the AV in LAR in the Health Sciences Building (HSB) room 009.
• Order forms are compared to the AUP cited on the order form to ensure Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval of the species and numbers of animals ordered.
• Housing availability is verified by AV or through consultation with LAR staff before placing orders.
• Health reports are either faxed from the company or retrieved from the company web site and reviewed by the AV prior to placing animal orders.
• Preferred vendors include:
  • SPF Mice: Jackson Laboratories, Charles River Laboratories, Taconic Laboratories
  • Rabbits: Charles River Laboratories and Myrtle Rabbitry
  • Pigmented guinea pigs: Charles River Laboratories
  • Timed-pregnancy Sprague-Dawley rats: Charles River Laboratories
  • Targhee sheep: local vendor
  • Frogs: Xenopus Express, Inc. for Xenopus laevis frogs.
• Orders are placed by phone with a request for e-mail confirmation from the company.
  • For all companies orders are charged to a departmental charge card but include the account number of the investigator as the purchase order number. This account number is used for internally charging the investigator's account after receipt of the paid invoice.
  • Holian (CEHS) orders placed with Jackson Labs are charged to the CEHS-Holian account that is listed on the animal order form.
• Order forms are then completed with arrival date.
  • An electronic file of the completed order form is sent back to the animal user and to LAR staff.
  • A hard copy of the order form is placed on the animal order clip board in the LAR office in HSB 009.
• Transportation is provided by commercial airlines, animal shipping companies, and City Transfer of Missoula.