ASAB animal research committee minutes July 15 2015

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Animal services mission: strives to meet the needs of residents by working with volunteers and other partners to deliver cost-effective and integrated sheltering and animal control services that ensure the health, safety and well being of humans, pets and the community as a whole. Addressing the problem of pet overpopulation with a proactive and positive approach is an integral ingredient of the department’s mission. Minutes of Committee Meeting to Discuss Shelter Donation of Animals/Samples for Research Purposes Meeting July 15, 2015 Weathervane, Southern Season, 6:30-8:30pm Present: Susan Elmore, Bob Marotto, Caroline Green , Maureane Hoffman, Dewana Anderson The group briefly discussed the pros and cons of the OCAS donating animals or biological samples for research purposes. Public misunderstanding and political fallout as well as the overall benefits of certain types of research were discussed. The majority felt that it would be acceptable to move forward. After this discussion, these important points were discussed, which all agreed should be components of a comprehensive guidelines document: 1. Shelter has the responsibility to support research that will benefit the lives of all shelter animals. 2. Research would have to be compatible with the OCAS mission and any proposal would need to articulate how the research would be consistent with the shelter mission (e.g. Kitten diarrhea). That is, the research should have a specific focus on shelter animal health and wellness. 3. There shall be no animal euthanasia, invasive procedures or pain/suffering for the research project. Noninvasive sample collections such as nasal swab, fecal samples, blood, tick collection, etc. would be acceptable. 4. There should be a prior institutional IACUC review and approval of the study. 5. The research cannot be for-profit. 6. If the research meets all of the above criteria, then participation would still be at discretion of the OCAS Director (logistics, etc. can’t conflict with overall operations). The group then discussed the logistics of moving this plan forward: 1. Ask Wake County Animal Shelter what their protocol is for animal research and what issues they have encountered to date. 2. Take this issue back to the advisory board then to the manager and BOCC and see if they would like for us to move forward OR 3. Take back to advisory board and form focus groups of people in the county, including people who might be supportive or opposed. Would then go to the manager and then to board. 4. Are the political risks warranted? Majority said yes. How will they be minimized? Forming focus groups with all concerned parties participating. To have a well thought out and developed framework for moving forward.