A New Cage Wash for Laboratory Animal Resources at Iowa State

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Project Summary/Abstract The overall objective of this application is to continue the mission of providing high quality healthy animals for research, teaching and testing, assuring care and use of animals consistent with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and provide a safe and healthy workplace for personnel who use or care for animals as well as maintaining AAALAC accreditation for the College of Veterinary Medicine. The College of Veterinary Medicine has been AAALAC accredited since 2011. The commitment of the Iowa State University to a high level of animal care is supported by our continued CVM AAALAC Accreditation. This project is for the installation of a new cage washer to replace a 31-year-old unit that has reached the end of its useful life. This cage wash services 30 faculty from various departments and colleges, all of whom have animals in Central or A-Wing animal facilities. During our most recent site visit in 2020, AAALAC stated that “the possibility of entrapment must be eliminated, and in the case of cage/rack washers, ideally an emergency shut-off mechanism that is easily accessible from anywhere inside the machine and which de- energizes the washer when activated should be in place”. Per the AAALAC position statement, it is recommended that de-energizer cords are placed on both sides of the cage wash. Our cage wash is so old that it has been difficult to find a vendor who will retrofit this cage wash with a second de-energizer cord. Our next AAALAC site visit will be in June of 2023, so to keep our AAALAC accreditation and to provide a safe working environment for our employees it is imperative that we purchase a new cage wash that comes with two de-energizer cords. The proposed new cagewash will prevent costly downtime when the current outdated model fails and will reduce operating costs and water usage significantly. These facilities house a variety of species used in teaching and research projects, including swine, dogs, rabbits, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, ferrets, chickens and rodents. The new cage washer will be installed in Central Animal Facility, which services both Central and A- Wing animal facilities. This “green” model will reduce hot and cold-water consumption by 40%. The new cage washer will provide a reliable service for cage washing and will eliminate the cost for repair and days of lost use that occur regularly with the current cage washer. Most importantly, it will ensure proper sanitization of equipment, helping to improve animal health and reduce research variables due to equipment borne fomites. The importance of replacing the 31-year-old current cage washer is significant. The new cage wash will have a longer internal chamber, allowing us to now clean large animal penning that was cleaned manually in the past.