Approved and Adopted: 2015
Last Reviewed or Revised: July 2024
IACUC Policy
Euthanasia methods for laboratory animals must be consistent with the most recent edition of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals.
Exceptions to these standards must be described in the protocol, scientifically justified, and approved by the IACUC.
For all methods, care must be taken to ensure that euthanasia is complete and that the animal(s) cannot recover.
Personnel using physical methods of euthanasia on conscious animals must be well trained and must demonstrate proficiency for each type of physical method performed (i.e., cervical dislocation or decapitation) to ensure euthanasia.
Guidelines
The following tables include methods of euthanasia that are consistent with the AVMA euthanasia guidelines, where applicable, for species used at Washington University. For any other species, please contact DCM for guidance.
| Animal Species | Method of Euthanasia |
|---|---|
| Large Animals Dog Ferret Sheep Goat Pig Monkey Rabbit | 1. Pentobarbital overdose ≥150mg/kg IV (Commercial Euthanasia Solutions contain 390 mg/ml pentobarbital)
2. General anesthesia followed by: 3. General anesthesia or deep sedation/tranquilization followed by carbon dioxide inhalation |
| Animal Species | Method of Euthanasia |
|---|---|
| Rodents Mouse (>7 days old) Rat (>7 days old) Hamster (>7 days) Gerbil (>7 days) Guinea Pig (all ages) Chinchilla (all ages) | Acceptable methods
1. Anesthetic agents—lethal doses of anesthetics or euthanasia solution
2. Carbon Dioxide (compressed gas) delivered at 30-70% chamber volume displacement per minute, using either:
3. General anesthesia followed by physical method:
Acceptable with conditions: Cervical dislocation or decapitation is acceptable without anesthesia on conscious rodents when scientifically justified and under the following conditions:
|
| Neonatal Rodents (≤ 7 days old) Mouse neonates Rat neonates Hamster neonates Gerbil neonates | Neonates ≤ 7 days old of altricial rodent species may be euthanized by:
|
| Animal Species | Method of Euthanasia |
|---|---|
| Fat-tailed Dunnarts | 1. Carbon Dioxide (30-70% chamber volume displacement/ minute, see ‘rodent’ section for details) followed by physical method:
2. General anesthesia followed by physical method:
3. Pentobarbital overdose ≥150mg/kg IV or IP |
| Animal Species | Method of Euthanasia |
|---|---|
| Amphibians Aquatic frogs (Xenopus) Terrestrial frog (Rana) Toads Salamanders Reptiles Turtles | Two-step euthanasia protocol: 1. Step one – General anesthesia with one of the following:
2. Step two – Use one of the following physical methods to ensure death:
Three-step euthanasia protocol: 1. Step one – General anesthesia (see above) 2. Step two – Decapitation 3. Step three – Pithing. The CNS of reptiles and amphibians is tolerant to hypoxia and hypotension, so decapitation must be followed by a method to rapidly destroy brain tissue. |
| Animal Species | Method of Euthanasia |
|---|---|
| Birds |
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| Animal Species | Method of Euthanasia |
|---|---|
| Fish, adult (All species, all sizes) | Anesthetic overdose (one step method) —Tricaine methane sulfonate* in a 0.05-1% solution (500 mg-10 g /L) for a minimum of 30 minutes. Recommend adding a secondary method. Anesthetic overdose (two step method) —Tricaine methane sulfonate* in a 0.05-1% solution (500 mg-10 g /L) for a minimum of 20 minutes. A secondary method to ensure death is required. Approved secondary methods include: decapitation, pithing, removal of vital organ (heart, brain), freezing (transgenic and non-transgenic fish), maceration (non-transgenic fish only), fixation Rapid chilling (2-4°C) — Once loss of orientation and cessation of opercular movements (10-20 seconds) is observed, hold fish in cold water for a minimum of 10 additional minutes. Use a screen divider to prevent direct contact with ice, but expose the entire fish to ice-cold water as quickly as possible. |
| Fish larvae 4 to 7 days post-fertilization (DPF) |
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| Fish embryos 0-3 DPF |
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