Animal care

It is right and proper that there be fairly strict procedures for working with animals in research. Like so many other things, though, red tape can be a problem. My favourite story came from a colleague who was told that his sea urchins had to be returned to the locations they were collected from so that they wouldn't suffer "psychological damage." Apparently, his response was along the lines of, "They don't even have a ----in' brain!"

In my case, I'm trying to find out if the University's Animal Care Committee needs to approve my research plan proposal. It's not clear, because I work with invertebrates. Apparently, different funding agencies have different rules for invertebrates.

Invertebrates are often not considered "animals" from an administrative point of view. I'm undecided on whether that's a good thing. On the one hand, less paperwork. On the other hand, the possibility of someone not taking proper care of animals.