Animal Care & Use
The Office of Animal Care and Use (OACU) oversees the University’s use of animals in scientific investigation and instruction, manages the compliance activities of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and administers the research support functions of University Research Animal Resources (URAR).
Announcements and News
2/21/2025: Avoid unnecessary distress and missed deadlines! Submit your IACUC protocols and amendments with plenty of time for a smooth, stress-free review and approval process!
You should allow, as a minimum, 3 months before approval is required.
The IACUC office continues to see protocols not being submitted early enough for the standard review time, which then require urgent review. The only way we can provide an urgent review is to move the protocol to the top of the review queue, skipping other protocols that have been waiting for review. Please avoid skipping in line in front of your colleagues! Also, despite our efforts, there is no guarantee that an item submitted late will be approved by your deadline.
The current median number of days from submission to approval is ~ 70-80. Note this is a median range — some items take longer. If your protocol is especially long and/or complicated, you should anticipate that the review will take longer than this median range. These numbers can also be found on the IACUC website.
4/26/2023: The USDA amended the Animal Welfare Regulations (AWR), so that some live birds are now regulated by USDA. Previously only mammals were covered by the AWR.
How to determine if your research or instruction birds are USDA regulated:
Birds bred (hatched) in captivity: These birds are not covered by the USDA AWR.
Wild-caught birds (birds not hatched in captivity): These birds are covered under the USDA AWR.
So, PIs working with wild-caught birds need to take specific actions:
- On IACUC protocols, the question about coverage by the USDA Animal Welfare Act Regulations (in 5.1) is to be answered as “Yes”.
- Starting October 1, 2023, the PI must record the number of birds used every federal fiscal year, to potentially be included in UGA’s annual animal use report to USDA. The OACU will contact PIs each fall to ask for these numbers if they are needed, based on the procedures in your AUPs. Please count from October 1 through September 30 each year, the federal fiscal year.
IACUC
The use of vertebrate animals in research at UGA requires registration, review and approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). IACUC review and approval is required to ensure compliance with all regulations, policies and standards that protect animal welfare. All animal use proposals are submitted through Artemis.
For general inquiries please contact our staff at iacuc@uga.edu
Humane Care and Use Policy
UGA maintains a Policy on Humane Care and Use of Animals that declares its compliance with regulations and policies governing use of all vertebrate animals used in research and instruction.
How Do I Report an Animal Welfare Issue?
The University of Georgia is committed to the humane care of the animals used in its research and instructional activities. If you have a question or concern about animal welfare, we urge you to report concerns to your supervisor or to the University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). UGA’s Policy on Reporting and Investigating Animal Welfare Concerns can be found here.
The identity of persons reporting concerns to the IACUC is held strictly confidential if requested. Persons reporting animal welfare concerns are protected from reprisal by applicable whistleblower protection policies.
One may also report concerns anonymously, through the Anonymous Welfare Concerns Reporting Form or through the UGA Ethics and Compliance Reporting Hotline: 1-877-516-3467.
Newsletters
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