In 2005, a Japanese law, Act on Welfare and Management of Animals was revised and the 3Rs concept (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) in animal experiments was stipulated in the Act. According to the concept, our Animal Facility has been making a great endeavor to execute animal experiments which satisfy animal welfare and the international standard. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the School including a ordinal citizen member has been improving the animal care and use program and facility, such as support for planning of appropriate animal experiments, critical review of the experimental protocols, improvement of environments of Animal Facility, application of environmental enrichment, evaluation of appropriate quality and number of animals, reduction or elimination of unpleasantness, suffering, and pain in animals, appropriate choice of sedative, analgesic, and anesthetic drugs, establishment of endpoints, and inspection by attending veterinarians all the year round. To verify that our Animal Facility satisfies high level of animal ethics and the international standard for using animals, we decided that our Facility should be reviewed by The Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC International) which is the most well-known NPO for evaluation of animal facilities. In 2007, our Animal Facility obtained the full accreditation from AAALAC International as the first accredited institute among Japanese Universities and has kept the status since then. Our Animal Facility wishes to execute animal experiments by satisfying animal welfare as well as to rear qualified persons who could be a leader for executing the appropriate animal experiment with wide knowledge.

 

 

 

SOP All(April 18th,2023)