Animal Husbandry & Other Services
DCM Standard Operating Procedures
Per Diem Rates
Rodent Health Surveillance
Recharges and Per Diem Rates
DCM is obligated to recover the costs associated with the procurement and care of research animals. These costs are billed to investigators' accounts or to departmental accounts monthly. DCM charges cover such items as purchases of animals and supplies, daily care of animals and technical assistance. The costs of DCM regulatory activities are not included in per diem rates and are not recharged. These costs are covered by the institutional facilities and administration (F&A) costs.
Per diem rates for animal care or direct charges for personnel costs and supplies are based on the cost analysis and recovery procedures outlined in the NIH document Cost Analysis and Rate Setting Manual for Animal Resource Facilities (NIH Publication No. 00-2006. Revised September, 2007). The rates are reviewed annually by OHSU administrative officers. DCM receives no subsidy from Administration to support animal per diem rates.
Per diems are charged to cover the expenses associated with the following services:
Animal Husbandry
Daily care and maintenance of animals including activities such as observation, feeding, watering, cleaning cages and maintaining a suitable environment including maintaining proper temperature and humidity ranges and light cycles. Related activities such as record keeping, census taking, cage changing and cleaning, sanitizing animal rooms, and initial processing and cage set-up for the animals are also included.
Additional fees will be charged to investigators for services beyond standard care. This may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- The use of water bottles when auto water is available
- Cage changing when it is more often than the department standard
- The preparation and feeding of soft food for rodents
- Medications to treat experimentally induced conditions
- Weighing animals
- Breeding and weaning animals
- Separating overcrowded cages
- Requests for specialized space
- Extra caging for transport, surgery, etc.
- Euthanizing animals
DCM General and Administrative Costs
DCM general and administrative costs include direction, control, and general management for the provision of DCM services and general use supplies, and for the daily operation and maintenance of DCM trucks and vehicles. General use supplies include: gloves, gowns, booties, masks, environment enrichment devices, etc.
Refuse Disposal/General Sanitation
Removal and disposal of refuse includes fees charged for refuse disposal and costs for facility sanitation, housekeeping, and maintenance over and above that provided by the OHSU.
Cage Washing and Preparation
Cage washing includes the sanitization of animal cages, cage racks, and related activities done in designated cage washing rooms. Cage preparation for rodents includes the placement of bedding into cages and assembly of the cage, wire top, water bottle and filter top.
Sterilization of Rodent Caging
Some rodent housing situations, Specific Pathogen Free and Biohazards (SPF/BIO), require that caging be wrapped and autoclaved prior to use, after use or both. The cost of this service is reflected in the higher per diem charges for rodents housed this way.
Animal Health Care
Animal health care consists of veterinary medical care provided for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of naturally occurring diseases or accidental injury to animals. Additional fees may be charged to individual investigators for veterinary medical care, supplies or medications resulting from experimental manipulations or choice of experimental model.
Rodent Health Surveillance Programs
The per diems for rats and mice include all expenses associated with the set up, exposure, sample collection and sample analysis for monitoring of rodent pathogens within the facility.
Carcass Disposal
Per diems also cover the cost for disposing of animal carcasses at the completion of the study.
