Animal Care Operations

The Animal Resources Centre provides animal care and husbandry to a wide variety of animal models 365 days a year. Animal care is provided by dedicated individuals trained to ensure that the physiological and psychological needs of the animals are met. This involves providing adequate food and water, appropriate environmental enrichment for each species of animal, maintaining accurate records, monitoring environmental parameters and health of the animals. Animal care attendants are responsible for performing minor medical treatments under the direction of the veterinary staff.

The ARC is striving to provide the best possible care for the animals. This includes the introduction of ventilated caging and automated watering systems for the rodents within some of the various animal facilities.
Each year new ventilated rodent racks are purchased and introduced to replace the static caging.





These housing systems greatly improve the environmental quality of the cages by reducing the humidity, carbon dioxide, ammonia and temperature within the cage. Automated watering systems provide a constant source of filtered, clean, potable water to the animals. In some facilities, this water is further treated by chlorination to ensure the cleanest water possible.

Animal care staff is also responsible for maintaining the animal holding rooms within strict sanitary conditions. Other duties include sanitization and sterilization of cages and ancillary equipment.

The ARC assists independent animal care units by providing weekend and holiday animal care services on a contractual basis. Affiliated hospital animal care facilities call upon the ARC to provide advice and consultation on animal facility design and renovation, and on specifications and sources for animal care equipment, supplies and materials.

New research staff working with laboratory animals must attend a facility orientation prior to receiving access to any animal facility. Please contact the facility supervisor to make an appointment for an orientation before working with the animals. Depending on the facility, orientations include instruction on where to obtain caging equipment, where animals are located, how to work within the laminar flow hoods or biological safety cabinets, where to obtain the appropriate disinfect solutions, etc.

Facility Operations:

Facility operations include maintaining the infrastructure of the facility and oversight of new facility construction and renovations. If a problem is noted regarding the infrastructure, please contact the facility supervisor or the manager.