The Veterinary Services team are available to all ANU researchers engaged in all animal-based research.

Contact

For emergency matters and Unexpected Adverse Events, call us on 02 6125 1130.

We are available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If we miss your call please leave a message with a return phone number so we can call you back as soon as possible. (The on call number is an ANU landline forwarded to a mobile phone, so the number you are dialling from may not be displayed on the mobile).

For the majority of enquiries, we can provide advice over the phone to alleviate immediate animal welfare concerns. We may respond in person to emergencies, or may advise you to take your animals (non-rodent species) to a local veterinary clinic.  Please do not take animals to a local veterinary clinic without ANU veterinary approval (unless this option has already been covered under your approved protocol).

For non-urgent matters, our contact details are available.

Advice and assistance

We work closely with research staff (including animal care technicians, management and research technicians) and students to maintain high standards of animal care and management whilst achieving research excellence.

Topics that you may like to discuss with our team include:

• Anaesthetic options and anaesthetic management
• Analgesia/pain relief
• The 3Rs: reduction, refinement, replacement
• Skill development and training
  • Anaesthesia
  • Analgesia
  • Recognising pain and distress in animals
  • Wildlife handling and management
• Identification methods
• Writing, developing and implementing procedures in the laboratory
• Technique improvement
• Development of new techniques
• Investigations of new species usage on campus
• …and pretty much any other animal related question.

Ethics protocol consultation

You may like to contact us in advance of preparing an animal ethics protocol, prior to accepting a position at ANU, or as part of your ethical review process. You can request a meeting with the veterinary team or get advice by email or over the phone.

We can also provide feedback on completed applications prior to submission, if you send them through at least two weeks in advance of the submission deadlines. The earlier you get your draft to us, the more time we will have to review your application in depth and engage with you to improve the application. You can either email your draft application through to vetservices.ris@anu.edu.au, or advise the Animal Ethics team that you have an application in ARIES which you would like the vets to review. We can provide feedback via email, or you can contact us to arrange a time to talk about your protocol. The veterinary team will review the entire protocol, but may focus more on refinements and veterinary procedures (e.g. anaesthesia, surgery or euthanasia techniques) as well as the overall quality of the application. Please note that this process does not guarantee committee approval and there may still be questions from other members of the animal ethics committee during the review process.

While you have an active protocol we are still available to work with you on refinement, reduction and replacement initiatives for your work as you work on variations to your protocol or issues as they arise.

Unexpected adverse events

Monitoring your animals and reporting any unexpected adverse events (UAEs) is an essential part of effective research practice. If something has happened and you aren't sure whether you need to report a UAE, you can phone the on-call veterinarian on (02) 6125 1130 for advice.

Proactively discussing any concerns about your work with our team will ensure we can assist you to continue your research and improve the welfare outcomes for animals under your care.

Reporting ethical concerns

If there is an imminent animal welfare concern, call 02 6125 1130 (on-call veterinarian).

For queries or concerns about ethical practices at ANU, you are welcome to contact Research Services directly. If you are concerned about any issues arising from the actions of other researchers at ANU, you can talk to your local Research Integrity Advisor, or report your concerns to the Director of Research Services.

Service charges and agreements

We do not charge for advice or for veterinary time related to investigations for animal welfare purposes under current active, approved animal ethics protocols.

If researchers need or request further work that incurs external costs, such as submitting samples for analysis (e.g. pathology), we will pass on those costs (including freight) directly to the local area by request for approval of journal transfer.

If we need to use treatments or drugs when assisting animals under your protocol, we can provide drugs for single, one-off use. For ongoing use and dispensing of drugs (doses or entire bottles), we will charge these to the research group at cost.

Our core responsibilities are to provide training, advice and support for research programs, and to support issues relating to animal welfare. Should you require ongoing veterinary involvement in your research, please speak with the Senior Veterinarian on how we can support your needs or direct you to external service providers.

Page updated 6 May 2021