Introductory Course in Laboratory Animal Science

NOTICE: Please note that the Nov 2020 LAS course has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The next course will be held in April 2021.

The Ethics, Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes

Date: postponed to April 2021
Venue: Faculty of Health Sciences
Time: daily from 07h45 - 17h00 (course duration: 40 hours)

Entry requirements: Supervisory letter endorsing the candidate’s application for attendance and a copy of your ID or Passport.

Course fee is R 8335 per person (UCT staff/students are eligible for a discounted rate. Please enquire on application)

This highly specialised course is aimed at persons who carry out procedures, care for, or euthanase animals for scientific purposes including research, testing or teaching at UCT and in Africa. The course is broadly attended by veterinary and para-veterinary professionals and animal ethics committees.

The main course objective is to present the basic principles that underlie the responsible and ethical care and use of animals for scientific purposes. Most of the lectures (23 hours) and principles are applicable across animal species. The practical sessions (15 hours) and some lectures focus on mice and rats.

Course content:

• Animal ethics (moral philosophy; legislation; standards; UCT policies; reduction, refinement & replacement)
• Animal welfare (welfare monitoring; humane endpoints; euthanasia; anaesthesia; analgesia; surgical principles)
• Research quality (study design; model validity; calculating sample size; statistics; limiting confounding factors)
• Biology & husbandry (behaviour; housing; enrichment; nutrition; anatomy; physiology; genetics; health status)
• Ethical review (how to complete an Animal Ethics Committee application to ensure a rapid turn-around time)
• Practical training (normal behaviour; welfare monitoring; rodent handling, restraint, injections & euthanasia)

The course is formally accredited by the following quality-assurance bodies:

• Animal Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT. Successful course completion is required for all new FHS animal workers
• South African Veterinary Council (SAVC): 35 Structured CPD points for SAVC-registered professionals and authorised researchers [AC/2133/19]
• Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA) formally accredited course for mice and rats, EU Functions A&C [F069/19]

Certificates from UCT and FELASA will be issued upon successful completion.

To register or for more information email ce.administration@uct.ac.za. 

Only participants registered for the course will be eligible to attend.