AVAR Survey of Nonhuman Animals in U.S. Veterinary Medical Schools for the 1998 - 1999 School Year

Information Needed to Interpret this Report

- Publication date: 17 September 2000

 

Qualifications on survey design and data retrieval

Database Information
Information about the educational use of nonhuman animals that was provided by the participating veterinary schools was entered into a database by protocol/class for each species authorized to be used or actually used for the 1998 - 1999 school year. Therefore, each species listed in a protocol/class information had a separate record generated. The information for each record included the following:

  1. Veterinary school name
  2. Class number and name in which nonhuman animals are used
  3. Animal Care and Use Form number
  4. Type of course (i.e., Core, Elective, Graduate, Resident's, Continuing Education, Extracurricular Activity, Other)
  5. Instruction level (i.e., First-year, Second-year, Third-year, Fourth-year, Resident, Faculty, Veterinarian, Other)
  6. Course contact
  7. Department
  8. Species
  9. Number of animals authorized for use or the number of animals actually used for the protocol/class(s) in the 1998-1999 school year
  10. Source of animals
  11. Disposition of animals (i.e., what happens to the animals after the procedures are completed)
  12. Costs of purchase, maintenance, preparation, and/or total costs
  13. Discipline (e.g., Anesthesiology, Clinical Procedures, Surgery, etc.)
  14. Procedures conducted
  15. Clinical illness associated with the procedure(s)
  16. Pain or distress associated with the procedures(s) and whether it is treated
  17. Categories of Procedures (see Definitions Used for Categories of Procedures)
  18. Alternatives offered to the harmful use of animals

Some of the schools did not provide all the information above. Only the information provided was included in the database.

Included Courses
Only those protocols/courses that involved the education of veterinarians, present or future, were included in the database. For example, if a protocol was included that involved the training of veterinary technicians it was not included. If a protocol appeared to represent only a source of animals who would be used for other protocols in which the procedures where described, it was not included; only those protocols that described the procedures were included.

Number of Animals
The survey has two different types of "number of animals used." The first is the number of animals (by species) authorized for use for the 1998 - 1999 school year identified in the Animal Care and Use Form (protocol). The second is the number of animals (by species) actually used for the 1998 - 1999 school year identified in written correspondence from the school. In most cases, the number of animals actually used was less than the number of animals authorized for use. Every school was given the opportunity to provide us with the number of animals actually used for the 1998 - 1999 school year. Some schools provided just the number of animals authorized for use, some provided just the number of animals actually used, and some provided both. In some cases, no animal numbers were provided despite repeated attempts to obtain this information. When available, the number of animals actually used for the 1998 - 1999 school year was used in the generation of the report. If not available, the number of animals authorized for use in the 1998 - 1999 school year was used, if available. If no data on animal numbers were available, the course was not included in the report.

Because animals could and were, in many cases, used for more than one procedure, the total number of animals used (or authorized for use) listed in most tables may not represent the number of different animals used; it represents the number of animals used for specific procedures.

A few of the protocols/classes had a total number of animals (multiple species) authorized for use identified, but the number authorized for use by species was not indicated (and the actual number of animals used by species had not been provided). For example, the information for a protocol/class may have identified 30 dogs or cats as the number of animals authorized for use for the 1998 - 1999 school year. Because we could not determine how many of each species was meant by this, we made two records, one for each species and marked the number as 30 in each case.

Disposition of Animals
The disposition of the animals used or authorized for use was identified in the database (i.e., what happened to the animals after the procedures were completed). A few of the protocols/classes identified multiple possibilities for disposition that included killing, but the actual one employed was not reported (even though the school was given the opportunity to clarify this). Because death was a possibility, the number of animals used for these protocols/classes was included in the number of animals killed for the Summary Data for Number of Animals Used portion of the report and the category of procedure was classified as terminal (see Categories of Procedures).

Disciplines
Each protocol/class was assigned a discipline or disciplines for each species depending on the types of procedures conducted according to the protocol or class information that was provided. The following is a list of the disciplines used:

Alternative Medicine
Anatomy
Anesthesiology
Bacteriology/Mycology/Parasitology
Behavior (Ethology)
Blood Donor Program
Cardiology
Clinical Procedures
Dentistry
Dermatology
Emergency Medicine and Critical Care
Endocrinology
Hematology
Histology
Immunology/Virology

Medical Diagnostic Techniques
Necropsy
Neurology
Nuclear Medicine
Ophthalmology
Pharmacology
Physiology
Radiology and Imaging
Reproduction (Theriogenology)
Research
Special Events
Surgery
Surgery - Spay/Neuter (Castration) Program
Toxicology
Urology

Due to the nature of the protocols and class information, more than one discipline could have been assigned to a specific record. For example, most surgeries that involved live animals also taught the principles of anesthesia. In these cases, the disciplines that were assigned to the records included "Surgery" and "Anesthesiology." Because some protocols/courses involved more than one discipline, totaling the number of animals by discipline may, therefore, give a figure greater than the total number authorized or used.

A discipline was assigned to a record only if it was apparent that it was part of the educational experience. For example, if an animal was anesthetized to demonstrate physiology principles, but it appeared that the student was not responsible for learning the anesthesia involved, only "Physiology" was assigned to that record.

The disciplines "Clinical Procedures" and "Medical Diagnostic Techniques" were not selected if the procedures or techniques appeared to be part of a broader discipline. For example, if a protocol/class involved IV catheter placement (a clinical procedure) for an anesthesia course (a broader discipline), only the discipline "Anesthesiology" was selected; or, if a protocol/class involved measurement of the intraocular pressure (a medical diagnostic technique) for an ophthalmology course (a broader discipline), only the discipline "Ophthalmology" was selected. In contrast, if several different kinds of procedures and techniques were being taught for the same protocol/class, then "Clinical Procedures" and "Medical Diagnostic Techniques" would be selected, as appropriate, and not the broader discipline. For example, if a protocol/class involved physical examination, bandaging techniques, and indirect ophthalmoscopy, only "Clinical Procedures" would be selected and not "Ophthalmology."

Categories of Procedures
Each record has been categorized by the procedure(s) conducted. This involves two tiers. The first tier categorizes the degree of invasiveness of the procedure. The choices are:

  1. Terminal Procedures
  2. Invasive Procedures
  3. Noninvasive Procedures
  4. Cadaver Procedures - Source: Willed Body Donation Program
  5. Cadaver Procedures - Source: Other

The second tier categorizes the effect of the procedure(s) on the specific animal(s) involved. The choices are:

  1. Beneficial Procedures
  2. Neutral Procedures
  3. Detrimental Procedures
  4. Potentially Detrimental Procedures

Refer to the section entitled Definitions Used for Categories of Procedures for a concise explanation of the definitions of the above categories. In addition, the procedures were categorized taking into account the individual animal on whom the procedure(s) were conducted. If they were not intended to help the individual (i.e., the individual animal was not a patient requiring the procedure(s)) then the procedure(s) could not be considered beneficial or potentially so. They were categorized as neutral, detrimental, or potentially detrimental. For example, if an orthopedic exam was conducted on an animal who was not showing signs of lameness (i.e., the animal was healthy and not showing any signs of clinical illness), the procedure would be categorized as noninvasive and neutral. In contrast, procedures that involved animals who came from a local humane society, were part of a spay/neuter (castration) program at the veterinary school, and then were returned to the humane society for adoption, would be categorized as invasive and beneficial because the animals benefited from the procedure by becoming more adoptable.

Because more than one type of category of procedure could have been included within each protocol/class, the most invasive procedure conducted was the one selected as the defining category. For example, if a protocol/class involved procedures for conducting physical exams (Tier 1 = Noninvasive; Tier 2 = Neutral) and also liver biopsies on the same animals not needing these (Tier 1 = Invasive; Tier 2 = Detrimental), the defining category and the one selected would be the second procedure (Invasive, Detrimental).

Definitions Used for Categories of Procedures

Procedure

For the purposes of this survey, a procedure was a general term used to describe a course of action or a series of actions involved in performing a medical process. This included, but was not limited to, such things as surgery, radiographs, bone marrow aspirates, physical examinations, biopsies, venipuncture, endoscopy, etc.
 

Multiple sessions

Multiple sessions was defined as those protocols/classes that identified the same animal undergoing more than one anesthetic session that involved invasive medical diagnostic techniques or surgical procedures. Examples of invasive medical diagnostic techniques included, but were not limited to, liver biopsies, CSF taps, bone marrow aspirates, etc. The individual was recovered from the first session and used for one or more subsequent sessions. In most cases, the individual was killed at the conclusion of the last session.
 

Tier I - Degree of invasiveness of the procedure(s)
 

Terminal Procedures
Terminal procedures were those procedures that resulted in the death of the animal, regardless of the health of the animal or the outcome of the procedure. The death of the animal was not necessarily because of the procedures being conducted; in most cases, it was because the animal was purposefully killed given predetermined protocols for the teaching or testing experience.
 

Invasive Procedures
Invasive procedures were those procedures that involved more than just momentary pain, distress or discomfort. They may have involved prolonged periods of restraint, induction of behavioral stresses, and/or clinical illness or abnormality as an expected or likely outcome. Examples included, but were not limited to, surgery; medical diagnostic techniques that involved penetration of the skin and resulted in post-procedural pain/discomfort such as liver biopsies, bone marrow aspirates, or spinal fluid collection; periods of several hours or more of physical restraint; noninvasive procedures applied repeatedly over short periods of time (hours to days); induction of behavioral stresses such as maternal deprivation; exposure to drugs, chemicals, or infectious agents at concentrations that impaired physiological systems; general anesthesia; epidural anesthesia; dehorning; tail docking; arthrocentesis; contrast radiography; transtracheal wash; abdominocentesis; recovery of embryos for embryo transfer.
 

Noninvasive Procedures
Noninvasive procedures were those procedures that involved no or only momentary pain, distress, or discomfort. Examples included, but were not limited to, venipuncture; short-term restraint; longer-term restraint that was supplemented with anxiolytic drugs; IV, SQ, IM, IP, or oral injections of substances that did not cause adverse reactions; physical examination; simple observation; medical diagnostic techniques that did not penetrate a body cavity and did not result in post-procedural pain/discomfort such as ultrasonography, measurement of intraocular pressure, electrocardiography, and external blood pressure measurement; noncontrast radiography; rectal palpation; local anesthesia; uterine or bladder catheterization; bandaging techniques.
 

Cadaver Procedures – Source: Willed Body Donation Program
This category comprised those procedures conducted on the dead bodies of animals obtained through a Willed Body Donation Program. A Willed Body Donation Program was defined as a program in which the caregiver for the animal donated the animal's body to the veterinary school after the animal had died of natural causes or was euthanatized for medical reasons.
 

Cadaver Procedures – Source: Other
This category comprised those procedures conducted on the dead bodies of animals obtained through any source other than a Willed Body Donation Program. Examples included, but were not limited to, humane society/animal shelter; slaughterhouse; biological supply house; a different protocol that involved terminal procedures. This category did not include those protocols that involved the killing of an animal to be used as a cadaver for a procedure(s).

Tier II - Effect of the procedure(s) on the specific animal(s)
 

Beneficial Procedures
Beneficial procedures were those procedures that augmented the health and well-being of the animal or worked toward reducing the production of homeless animals. Pain or distress or the possibility of clinical illness (although not expected) may have been a component of these procedures, but they were treated with appropriate anesthetics, analgesics, or medications (e.g., antibiotics). Examples included, but were not limited to, ovariohysterectomy or castration; any surgery that was used according to the standards of veterinary medical practice to prevent, diagnose or treat disease or disability; prophylactic procedures such as dental examination, cleaning, or floating; wellness care such as administration of vaccines and deworming.
 

Neutral Procedures
Neutral procedures were those procedures that did not have detrimental effects on the animal, but did not provide a benefit to the specific animal to which the procedures were being applied. Examples included, but were not limited to, euthanasia following an elective terminal procedure under anesthesia when the caregiver of the animal had determined the procedure to be appropriate (i.e., the animal had a terminal disease); activities where the animal was used for presentation purposes only; practicing bandaging techniques; observation of behavior; cadaver procedures; external palpation of anatomy landmarks; practicing handling and restraint; noninvasive training; physical examination; injection of substances that did not cause harm (e.g., saline).
 

Detrimental Procedures
Detrimental procedures were those procedures that caused short-term or permanent, minor or major harm to an animal without the goal or possibility of improving the individual animal's health or well-being. Examples included, but were not limited to, surgery on healthy animals; invasive medical diagnostics without the medical justification for performance or intent to treat abnormal findings; terminal procedures on healthy animals; general anesthesia without medical justification; dehorning; tail docking; cesarean section of pregnant animals without medical justification; contrast radiography; arthrocentesis; transtracheal wash; protocols that involved the killing of an animal to be used as a cadaver for a procedure(s).
 

Potentially Detrimental Procedures
Potentially detrimental procedures were those procedures that could potentially have caused short-term or permanent, minor or major harm to an animal and were not medically necessary. Although harm to the animal was not expected, it was a realistic possibility. Examples of this included, but were not limited to, administration of agents (e.g., insulin, radiopharmaceuticals) that had the possibility of causing harm; placement of long-term (hours to days) indwelling catheters; abdominocentesis; noncontrast radiography; uterine and bladder catheterization; stomach tubing; rectal palpation; local anesthesia; nasolacrimal irrigation; venipuncture; epidural anesthesia; abdominocentesis; artificial insemination.

Abbreviations used in tables

(definitions used)

 

CWB&N:

Cadaver - Willed Body and Neutral
 

CO&N:

Cadaver - Other and Neutral
 

I&B:

Invasive and Beneficial
 

I&D:

Invasive and Detrimental
 

I&PD:

Invasive and Potentially Detrimental
 

N&B:

Noninvasive and Beneficial
 

N&D:

Noninvasive and Detrimental
 

N&N:

Noninvasive and Neutral
 

N&PD:

Noninvasive and Potentially Detrimental
 

NA:

Not Applicable
 

NS:

Not Supplied
 

T&D:

Terminal and Detrimental
 

T&N:

Terminal and Neutral