Rates and Fees

Accommodations are available at the FIU Animal Care facility for housing and maintaining all common laboratory animals. Fees for these accommodations are included in the per diem charges. Qualified personnel are available, on a fee-for-service basis, to assist investigators with routine technical procedures such as bleedings, inoculations, surgery, anesthesia, necropsies, euthanasia, or monitoring breeding colonies. A veterinary diagnostic laboratory is available for assistance in microbiology, serology, chemistry, hematology, and pathology.

The overall responsibility for the care and use of laboratory animals lies with the investigator who purchased or raised them. Although the LAR staff regularly checks animal health, census, food, water, and cleanliness, the investigator’s staff should make similar checks. If an animal husbandry or physical plant problem is not immediately corrected by LAR staff, or if you have concerns about the health of animals call Horatiu Vinerean at (305) 348-8315 or Amable Tellez at (305) 348-7408. Communication at this level helps ensure that all components of the LAR program are coordinated to prevent the recurrence of problems that could interfere with productive research.

Laboratory Animal Research is also required to recover the costs associated with the care of laboratory animals through per diem rates. Invoices are processed monthly and charged interdepartmentally to the principal investigator’s Office of Research and Economic Development project as located on the animal cage card and room census sheet. For any additional information regarding the census, please contact Amable Tellez at (305) 348-7408.

Click here for a list of current per diem rates and fees.

Per Diem rates are charged to cover the expenses associated with the following services:

ACF GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS

ACF general and administrative costs include general management of ACF services, technicians and general use supplies (gloves, booties, gowns, masks and environment enrichment devices). Hurricane supplies are also included in the costs to ensure that all research will be conducted without any interruptions.

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.

HEALTH SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS

The health surveillance program includes all expenses associated with the sample collection and sample analysis for monitoring of pathogens within the facility.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Animal husbandry consists of daily maintenance of animals (observation, feeding, watering, cleaning cages and maintaining a suitable environment) and maintaining proper temperature and humidity levels and light cycles. Additional duties 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.

CAGE WASHING AND PREPARATION

Cage washing includes the sanitization of animal cages and cage racks. Cage preparation 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, Pathogen Free and/or Biohazards require that caging be wrapped and autoclaved prior to use, after use or both. The cost of this service is reflected in the non-conventional per diem charges for rodents housed this way.