Animal housing and care

Animal Care Services (ACS)

Our office is committed to providing excellence in research support to all UVic researchers.

In addition to our housing facilities and services for animals, ACS provides veterinary and diagnostic services as well as training and expertise in laboratory animal medicine.  This office also provides veterinary oversight of all animal facilities at UVic. 

We are here to help you with your research needs.

All research with animals must receive approval from the Animal Care Committee (ACC) before commencing.

Click here for Research and teaching with animals (ACC).

Our Veterinary Director () can provide assistance with:

  • Choosing of animal-based models
  • Training staff & researchers
  • Interpretation of regulatory guidelines, policies, & procedures
  • Animal Use Protocol (AUP) planning & writing
  • Design & implementation of experimental procedures
  • Choosing & use of medications and reagents for experimental protocols
  • Feedback on procedures
  • Troubleshooting challenges or abnormalities
  • Diagnostics & data analysis
  • Guidance on writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Animal Care Committee queries

Our Animal Health Technicians (AHTs) () can assist you with:

  • All technical procedures & health related matters for laboratory animals
  • Treatment options for laboratory animals
  • Acquisition of drugs and supplies
  • Post-procedural monitoring of animals
  • Colony management & trouble-shooting
  • Ordering & shipping animals
  • Developing technical Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Preparing or amending Animal Use Protocols (AUPs)
  • Training for researchers in basic & advanced assessment of animal health & performance of technical procedures

Our Registered Laboratory Animal Technicians (RLATs) () can assist you with:

  • Specialized housing, equipment, breeding & dietary needs for all laboratory animals
  • Adjusting & maintaining animal environments
  • Providing use of enrichment for laboratory animals 
  • Sanitization & maintenance of all animal & procedure rooms
  • Education on the operation & maintenance of equipment
  • Guidance on writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Training for researchers in basic & advanced husbandry procedures for standard & immunocompromised rodents
  • Establishing researcher & technician partnerships within our "running-mate" program

Our Aquatics Technicians can assist you with:

  • Maintenance of aquatic animal husbandry & health
  • Water quality maintenance & reports
  • Project/Lab set-up & removal
  • Broodstock maintenance
  • Supplying animals & animal use tracking
  • Guidance on writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Training for researchers in basic & advanced husbandry & technical procedures for aquatic animal species

The Animal Ethics Liaison () can assist you with:

  • All enquires about Animal Care Services (ACS) and the Animal Care Committee (ACC)
  • Enrollment in education & training programs
  • Access to facilities
  • Locating and reviewing SOPs
  • Submission of AUPs to the ACC
  • How to place animal orders

If you have any questions, please contact the Animal Ethics Liaison at or 250-853-3187.

  1. New researchers - Use the Facility Access Application to track onboarding requirements and apply to access animal care facilities. Note: Supervisors, please download and provide the Facility Access Application to new researchers - contact with questions or for assistance. 

  2. Handbook for Investigators, Graduate Students and Laboratory Personnel.

  3. Training Program
  4. Lending Library - Staff and researchers are invited to utilize a variety of books available on a selection of topics related to laboratory animals.

SOP Connect Site

You can view all the current SOPs in one document library.

When viewing all documents, you can select any column header to sort or filter by the parameters provided.

You can also search for any SOP using the search function.

Please follow this SOP template to create a new SOP for submission to the ACC. Contact Animal Ethics Liaison () for any questions, concerns or to request access.

For assistance, please contact either the:

If you require assistance, please contact the .

How to order your animals:

Forms for mammalian animals:

Form for aquatic animals:

Exporting animals

Maintenance of your animals:

Controlled Drugs Information

If you are working after hours (before 8:30am, or after 4:30pm, 7 days per week) at any of the animal care or aquatics facilities and you experience an animal health or equipment-related emergency, please contact CAMPUS SECURITY (x7599).  On-call personnel will be notified of the emergency immediately.

To access the calendars for the Procedure Rooms in the units and to book time, please login to Connect.