The Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) is charged with the task of managing centralized research animal housing and support facilities for the entire campus of East Tennessee State University (ETSU). The Director of the DLAR, at present a veterinarian with extensive experience in laboratory animal medicine, reports to the Associate Dean for Finance and Administration of the Quillen-Dishner College of Medicine. The University Animal Care Committee is advisory to the DLAR Director. The DLAR has been registered, since its inception in 1978, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a research facility and has been found to be in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. The animal facilities at ETSU are accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) since 1986. In an effort to upgrade and improve the animal housing facilities and the service functions of the DLAR it is proposed to resurface existing floor surfaces in animal housing and equipment wash area in Building VA 119 so that they may be easily and effectively sanitized, to replace existing cage wash equipment which has been found to be substandard and inefficient, to improve supply storage to provide for the increased demand for animal housing and to increase the data collection capacity required by new Federal Regulations. It is expected that the proposed renovation and equipment purchase will enable the animal facilities at ETSU to continue to meet AAALAC standards. Further, these improvements will enable the DLAR to offer an expanded range and increased quality of animal housing and thus more fully meet the needs of this research community.
