Veterinary Services
Both the Animal Welfare Act and the PHS (Public Health Service) Policy require the designation of an institutional attending veterinarian. The Director of Laboratory Animal Resources and Attending Veterinarian is responsible for an overall veterinary care program that encompasses:
- Observation of teaching, testing, and research animals to assess their health and welfare;
- Prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries;
- Provision of guidance to animal users regarding handling, restraint, anesthesia, analgesia, and euthanasia;
- and Monitoring of surgery programs and postsurgical care.
This person serves as a permanent member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). This satisfies the federal requirement that one IACUC member must be a veterinarian with training or expertise in laboratory animal medicine who has “direct or delegated program responsibility for activities involving animals at the institution” (PHS Policy, 1986).
LAR Veterinary Staff
The Director of Laboratory Animal Resources and Attending Veterinarian oversees the Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) veterinary staff, a team that consists of two clinical veterinarians and a program coordinator and a veterinary technician. Veterinary staff are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and are on call on a rotating basis on weekends and holidays.
Animal caretakers observe each animal under their care daily and report any illness, injury, or death to the veterinary staff. In addition, the animals in each facility are observed at least once every two weeks by a veterinary staff member.
Upon receiving a report of sick or injured animals, the clinical veterinarian examines the animals and consults with the principal investigator (PI), or the individuals authorized (those listed on the a-tune protocol) to approve medical care or euthanasia. If the PI or his designee cannot be reached in a timely manner, the LAR veterinarian will determine the proper course of action.
Director of Laboratory Animal Resources and Attending Veterinarian: Jean Kaptur
Phone: (515) 294-0538
Email: jakaptur@iastate.edu
LAR emergency on-call veterinarian: (515) 290-3012