University of Toledo

DLAR Services Requests

Winter Break runs from Dec. 25th, 2023, through January 1^st, 2024. The DLAR office will be closed during that time. Animal care staff remain on site, however, on shortened schedules. Please be sure to contact DLAR as soon as possible if you would like to schedule services such as weaning, post-op monitoring, special water/diet, etc. during the winter break and/or holidays.

animal orders & deliveries

Animal orders and deliveries will be interrupted during the holidays. Important information regarding animal order due dates and vendor delivery schedules will be emailed to all researchers.

DLAR has a wide variety of resources and services to help guide you through your research journey. We utilize these resources to communicate important information to our research community as well as provide references and services for you to use. DLAR also has a dedicated professional staff including a purchasing agent, animal health and training technicians/veterinary technicians, animal aides & technicians, and a veterinarian specializing in lab animal medicine to assist you with your animal research programs. Just ask – we are here to help!

DLAR resources available to you include:

• DLAR Website: https://www.utoledo.edu/depts/dlar
  • Comprehensive easy-to-use website for our PIs and lab personnel that is available 24/7.
    
    
• DLAR Researchers Z Drive: Z:\DeptLabAnimalResearch\UTResearchers
  • Z Drive resource that contains forms, instructions, and supplemental information available to the DLAR research community.

• DLAR Newsletter & Announcements:
  • DLAR publishes a quarterly newsletter on our website with valuable information and tips. This site also contains important announcements and updates to keep you informed. https://www.utoledo.edu/depts/dlar/newsletter-announcements.html

• Training & Retraining:
  • The IACUC Training Guideline is a valuable resource to assist you with understanding your training requirements. The DLAR training program website describes each course to assist you with selecting the correct course(s) for your research program.

We encourage you to ask us any questions regarding assistance you may need. We’re here to help!

Just a reminder that animal requisitions are due into DLAR by Noon on Wednesday if you expect to receive your animals the following week. Requisitions received after the deadline will be placed the following week.

Beginning October 2^nd, our animal requisition, animal transfer, and import/export forms will no longer be accessible through our DLAR website. All forms will be accessed through a departmental Z drive folder; Z:\DeptLabAnimalResearch. IT will grant all PI’s and relevant lab staff access to this folder. There you will find a subfolder labeled UTResearchers. Inside you will find:

• Animal Requisitions
  • Animal requisition form and instructions
• Animal Transfers
  • Animal transfer form and instructions
• Animal Imports/Exports
  • Animal import/export form and instructions
• Supplemental Information
  • This folder will contain helpful information that we feel is important for our researchers to have access to.

Please take some time to explore these folders, what they contain, and how to complete and submit forms. Any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to DLAR.

There are new requirements and changes to our Aseptic Technique and Surgery Training course.

• In addition to the videos and articles that must be reviewed prior to class, there is now required “homework”. Students must reserve a procedure room and fill out a green surgery monitoring card according to their specific surgery.
• Suturing lessons may be conducted in a separate training session.
• Kim is now teaching the hands-on course, and Dr. Root will observe the first surgery the student/lab performs after training.

DLAR has historically required monthly Breeding Records. These records are used to deduct the number of animals born each month from the total number of animals approved in your protocol. This is important as it helps DLAR prevent a PI from going over their approved number of animals.

• Exceeding the number of animals approved in your protocol is a non-compliance.
• DLAR will notify you if you have used 80% of your approved total number of animals.

In order to achieve this goal of assisting PIs to stay in compliance, DLAR is asking that labs submit their Breeding Records to DLAR by the 3^rd of each month. 

• We’re not asking you to change your process on how you collect the data. 
• If you already have a system that works for your lab, please continue doing it!
• For those of you who have been consistently submitting them each month, we extend our gratitude! 😊
• You’re more than welcome to submit it early!

A few notes:

• Breeding Records should represent 30 days’ worth of new pup counts. 
• You are expected to count all pups born, including those that were born alive but perished prior to weaning. 
• You can use the DLAR animal death email notifications in circumstances like this to help with your count.
• If a litter was born but is later reported as “missing” (a.k.a., cannibalized) on a DLAR death notification slip before you are able to count them, you do not need to include them in your Breeding Record.
• If you feel the pups are too young to count at the time Breeding Records are due, no problem! Count them when you’re comfortable counting them and include them in the following month’s Breeding Record.
  
  

We have received several emails regarding researchers receiving a notification from Test Bank that their rodent handling and restraint is out of compliance. DLAR is currently in the process of implementing several new training requirements:

• Every 3 years, all animal users will be required to show proficiency by attending an
  in-person rodent handling and restraint class. This will be a condensed version of our initial training course and will be scheduled to limit disruption to our busy researchers’ schedules.
• Yearly, all animal users will be required to re-take the DLAR Orientation course through Test Bank -online only.
• Yearly, all animal users will be required to re-take the DLAR Hazard course through Test Bank - online only.

These training reviews are being implemented to ensure the health and safety of our animals, staff, and researchers. We are still in the early planning period for these requirements. Until you hear further communications from DLAR, please disregard the notifications from Test Bank regarding any expired DLAR training.

Daylight savings time ends Sunday, November 6^th at 2:00 AM. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back 1 hour Saturday evening. The time change will also impact light timers in DLAR. The timing for lights beginning Sunday will be on at 6:00 AM and off at 6:00 PM.

Many of our animal vendors are adjusting their schedules for the Thanksgiving holiday.

• Jackson Labs: Jackson Labs will be closed on November 24^th and 25^th. Due to the closure, they are not scheduling any deliveries in our region between November 28^th and December 2^nd. They recommend that any critical orders be placed no later than November 17^th for delivery before the holiday. They will resume regular shipments on December 2^nd for delivery on December 5^th.
• Envigo: Envigo will be closed on November 24^th and 25^th. They will resume normal business hours on Monday, November 28^th. For deliveries the week of November 28^th, they recommend that we place orders no later than Monday, November 21^st. This means the last animal order with Envigo before Thanksgiving will be placed November 17^th.
• Charles River: Charles River will be closed on November 24^th and 25^th. The last day for orders will be November 17^th for delivery on November 29^th.
• Taconic: Taconic will be closed on November 24^th and 25^th. The last day for orders will be November 17^th for delivery on November 29^th.