Análisis de fragmentación y cambio de uso de suelo

4.13.1 Checking your authorities

You must comply with the terms and conditions of your licence.

Before you carry out a regulated procedure you must check that it is authorised by a project licence, being carried out as part of the programme of work specified in that licence and that it is being carried out at a place named in that project licence. You should also check that the required categories or descriptions of techniques and animals

are listed in your personal licence [Standard Condition 19].

You should be familiar with the details of the licences for projects you are working on, including their objectives, plans of work and protocols.

You must only perform regulated procedures with the permission and in the full knowledge of the project licence holder. You must also understand the tasks the project licence holder asks you to perform, including any end- points you need to apply.

You must be trained and competent to carry out the procedure so that you cause the minimum pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm, with supervision as necessary until such competence is attained.

4.13.2 Supervision

Until the project licence holder and NTCO where you are working are satisfied that you have achieved competence in a particular technique and species, you must not apply regulated procedures unless given the appropriate level of supervision by the project licence holder or an experienced personal licence holder assigned by him or her. This

is to ensure that regulated procedures are performed competently [Standard Condition 17].

4.13.3 Animal welfare

You must not allow an animal to experience severe pain, suffering or distress that is likely to be long-lasting and

cannot be ameliorated [Standard Condition 3].

You should act at all times in a manner that is consistent with the principles of the 3Rs – replacement, reduction

and refinement [Standard Condition 1].

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● being responsible for the welfare of the animals you have performed procedures on and ensuring that they are

properly monitored and cared for [Standard Condition 2];

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● knowing the techniques and species involved, what the consequences of performing procedures on them will

be and the signs of pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm in that species; ●

● taking precautions to prevent, or reduce to a minimum consistent with the purposes of the procedure, any

pain, suffering, distress, or discomfort to the animal which may or may not lead to lasting harm. This may include using medication where appropriate, such as sedatives, tranquillisers, analgesics or anaesthetics, as well as other appropriate methods such as husbandry measures, which increase animal comfort or improve

access to food and water [Standard Conditions 4 and 12];

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● telling the project licence holder immediately if you think that the severity limit of any procedure, or other

limitations (constraints) upon adverse effects, have been or are likely to be exceeded and agreed humane end-

points have not or cannot be applied [Standard Condition 13];

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● getting and following veterinary advice and treatment, where needed [Standard Condition 15];

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● arranging for the care and welfare of an animal when you are away [Standard Condition 14];

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● making sure that any animal that is in severe pain or severe distress, which cannot be alleviated, is painlessly

killed using an appropriate method [Standard Condition 8];

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● ensuring that neuromuscular blocking agents (if authorised to be used) are used in combination with

anaesthesia and analgesia as required by the project licence [Section 5.18.3];

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● ensuring animals are killed by an appropriate method at the end of the procedures if the animal is suffering

or is likely to suffer adverse effects [Section 5.20].

If two or more personal licence holders are working with the same animal, you must be clear who is primarily responsible for that animal and it must also be clear to others involved in the care of the animal, including the care staff, the project licence holder, the named persons and inspectors.

4.13.4 Record keeping and cage labelling

You must keep records of all the regulated procedures you perform and note whether you were supervised. You should record any adverse reactions including morbidity and mortality resulting from those procedures to enable

your project licence holder to decide if you need further training or supervision [Standard Condition 20].

Your records should be retained for at least five years and should be available to the NTCO and project licence

holder(s) where you work and, on request, to our inspectors [Standard Condition 20].

You must clearly label cages, pens and other enclosures. The label should include details of: ●

● the project licence number;

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● the protocol;

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● the date the protocol was started; and

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● the responsible personal licensee [Standard Condition 16].

You can use a coding system as long as this can be easily decoded by others caring for the animals or with responsibilities under ASPA, including our inspectors.

We also recommend that the number of animals is included on the label to assist with monitoring, recording and compliance.

4.13.5 Delegating tasks

You can delegate tasks which form an integral part of the regulated procedures that you are authorised to perform to assistants under your control who do not themselves possess the requisite personal licence authority. The tasks must not require technical knowledge or skill. Any such assistant must be trained, instructed and supervised as necessary. You remain responsible for conduct of the tasks and the consequent effects on the animals.

For example you could use an assistant to: ●

● fill food hoppers and water bottles with previously mixed diets or liquids of altered constitution or to which

test substances have already been added; ●

● in your presence, put an animal in a predefined altered environment such as a pressure chamber;

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● press the exposure button to deliver predetermined doses of irradiation to an animal;

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● pair animals for breeding animals with harmful genetic defects as instructed;

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● operate automated machinery for inoculating eggs;

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● competently place animals into restraining devices that do not require special skill to apply or operate, as

defined by the project licence; ●

● withdraw food or water, as defined by the project licence;

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● place avian eggs into pre-set chillers at the end of a procedure;

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● manipulate the controls of anaesthetic apparatus only under your direct instruction.

You may delegate other tasks, but only in your presence and when the animal has been rendered insentient by decerebration or general anaesthesia that will continue until it dies. This might include administering substances through a catheter, or administering electrical stimuli through electrodes. If you consider other tasks are suitable for delegation, you should discuss this with an inspector on a case-by-case basis.

During surgery unlicensed assistants can only perform simple duties under your instruction. This may include cutting of sutures or ligatures. They may not make or close surgical incisions or perform any other intervention that requires knowledge or technical skill.

You should consult us if you are unsure whether or not a task can be delegated.

4.14 Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest must be avoided. For any group of protected animals there should be at least three people filling the five key roles of: establishment licence holder/NPRC, project licence holder, personal licence holder,

NACWO and NVS (see Section 3.13.8).