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Institute of Animal Technology Bulletin G G G Winners ABTA AAALAC G G G ATW Branch News Diary Dates Vol 56 No 3 March 2020

Bulletin Vol 56 No 3 March 2020 EDITOR Carole Wilson bulletineditor iat org uk ASSISTANT EDITOR Karen Dunford bulletinassistant iat org uk ADVERTISEMENT MANAGERS PRC Associates Ltd mail prcassoc co uk Published monthly by the Institute of Animal Technology Registered Office 5 South Parade Summertown Oxford OX2 7JL ISSN 0263 2861 For enquiries other than Bulletin related contact IAT ADMINISTRATOR admin iat org uk or 0800 085 4380 Final copy date for April Bulletin 23rd March The opinions expressed in the Bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or the Institute CONTENTS Dear Readers Andrew Blake Tribute Award Winner Stuart Mason 5 6 7 AAALAC Fellowship 2019 10 11 UK and 2020 USA winners AAALAC 2020 announcement 13 Branch News Wales and the West 15 18 Animal Technology and Welfare Paper Winners 20 21 Branch News Herts and Essex 23 26 Steve Moore Memorial Poster Competition Announcement 29 Diary Dates 31

Bulletin March 2020 De ar Re aders What do we all associate with March The end of winter and the beginning of spring Longer daylight times Well we might do but it is also Tech month that s right IAT Tech month is upon us again It is that time of the year time for quizzes time to get together time to test our knowledge eat doughnuts chip butties pies what a healthy lot we are run a Twitter campaign whatever you have planned to do This is a time to celebrate all the good work we do Write and tell me what you do I look forward to hearing from you and hope everyone has as much fun as they did last year So that is what we are doing this month but what we are featuring in the Bulletin is more celebration this time of winners We have the two AAALAC Fellowship winners see pages 10 11 the recipient of the Andrew Blake Tribute Award pages 6 7 and the winners of the Animal Technology and Welfare Journal awards for the best 2019 paper published see pages 20 21 I would like to congratulate all of these very worthy winners and their very real contributions to animal welfare in laboratory science We all can and do make a positive difference to the lives of animals and I encourage everyone to publish their contributions and in the case of the AAALAC Fellowships apply for these awards Everyone has something to give That said it is great to see people being positive and setting up a new Branch read about the inaugural meeting and educational event of Wales and the West on pages 15 18 Until next month carry on contributing and Keep Reading Carole 5

Bulletin March 2020 15 W ales and the West recently held its first education event at Bristol University bringing together Animal Technicians from the surrounding areas for the very first time under the Wales and the West Branch WaW Branch and we were delighted to see so many attend There were some fantastic presentations from Alistair Vincent at MMM along with Sharon Sears and Carl Breacker at Tecniplast UK who were able to provide invaluable information to some technicians new to the industry and also show interesting new products to those of us who ve been around the block We are extremely grateful for the support sponsorship and engagement with everyone at the event We were very lucky to have our main talk from John Meredith from the UAR

16 March 2020 Bulletin The feedback from the event was unanimous that both John and his presentation were great With positive ideas on how to improve our communication with the public on the work we do with animals and give confidence to those who previously may have been more nervous on this subject There was plenty of fantastic food and drink for everyone to enjoy and more cake than we d anticipated A huge thanks to Clare Sims and Peter Gardiner for organising everything at Bristol for us Without your help we would never have gotten this off the ground and our presenters Sharon Alistair Carl and John who really made the day for everyone Reporter Rhys Perry Carl mans the stand

Bulletin Everyone listens attentively as Sharon talks March 2020 17

Peter and Clare the organisers with Rhys in the middle 18 March 2020 Bulletin

Bulletin March 2020 23 Herts and Essex Branch Guide Dog Event On the 4th December 2019 we hosted a talk titled Living with Arthur a guide dog as mad as a goat There were two important take home messages from Colin our speaker so I am giving them first in case you don t read the rest of this article Firstly it is important never to stroke a guide dog when they have a harness on this can cause them to be very distracted and forget their training At first Colin did not take this seriously and allowed someone to pet Arthur but Arthur then became very disorientated and seemed to forget his training so Colin never allowed that to happen again Secondly for car drivers if you see a guide dog and a Visually Impaired Person VIP waiting to cross the road ignore them This is important road safety for the dog as if a car stops the dog will think all cars will stop when they cross the road and not try to stop the VIP person if a car is coming and not everyone stops Colin gave an inspirational and frankly humbling talk about his life Colin s talk started with his history how he had problems with his sight from an early age and was told by doctors he was going to lose his sight when he reached middle age His struggle to come to terms with this and his acceptance of his condition was very clear in all he said Fortunately for Colin he has a wonderful wife who supported and helped him When he lost his sight he was trained to use a long cane and how to cope with daily life but the trainer realised that Colin would be a suitable candidate for a guide dog Colin explained how unsure he was when the idea was suggested to him and the reluctance in taking on a dog But he agreed to try and was introduced to the Guide Dogs for the Blind GDB The trainer who initially met him knew she had a good match for Colin in Arthur because a VIP does not get any dog the GDB team have decades of experience and will only pair a dog according to each VIP s personal circumstances and needs Not just the personality they match by walking pace and whether the person can learn to walk with a dog This entails the VIP being led by a GDB person and the VIP having to pretend they are walking with a guide dog Once this stage is completed they are introduced to the dog and have a residential stay at a hotel where they share a room with their dog to facilitate bonding and get put through initial training for example crossing the road Colin had to put

24 March 2020 Bulletin all his trust in Arthur to safely cross a road The GDB had drivers drive past the pair and when it was unsafe Arthur should refuse to cross If a car was coming he would block Colin from trying to cross the road This is very important and something Colin still practices with Arthur now There are a lot of treats involved with guide dog training more than I had realised that is for sure Training continues once they are home with the GDB following at a safe distance so they can step in if they need to After training is complete they have to take a final test before Colin is allowed to keep Arthur The GDB continue to work and help Colin and Arthur throughout their time together When Arthur is 10 years old he will be retired The GDB gives first Colin Arthur and Anne

Bulletin March 2020 25 refusal to the VIP but if the VIP is unable to care for the dog for example if they were living alone and they could not care for a pet dog then it is offered to close family and finally to members of the public looking for a well trained dog It must be very heartbreaking for some people to have to give up their trusted companion but fortunately for Colin he and Anne are able to keep Arthur when the time comes and a new dog will join their family Guide dogs are selected as puppies and there is some genetic monitoring work carried out during this process Breeding lines where puppies are not suitable will be stopped for breeding guide dogs When puppies are selected they move in with a puppy carer who starts their training life Often the puppy carers will keep in contact with the new owners and have updates sometimes when the dog retires the carer takes them back Guide dogs are working animals but they also get free time if Arthur has his harness on he is focussed and working when he has his collar on he knows he is a regular dog For example with his harness on he will ignore a hot dog on the pavement when he has his collar on he is like any other Labrador and will try to scoff it in a split second if the walker does not notice Arthur has dog friends in the park that he plays with but if he has his harness on he will ignore his pals in the street Arthur has good recall and is allowed off the lead in the park so he can chase toys and his friends I want to say a really big thank you to Colin Arthur and Anne for their time and especially to Colin for his openness on his life with Arthur It was a very emotional presentation There were so many questions which he answered and a general discussion Everyone that attended enjoyed and learned more about the work GDB do and life with a guide dog It was lovely to see Arthur mixing with the audience when he was given the go ahead from Colin although I think the audience were a little nervous about touching him after we had been told how important it was not to distract them but he soon got lots of cuddles We raised 300 for Guide Dogs for the Blind with our raffle the collection tin and a donation of the money we would have spent on a buffet On behalf of the Herts and Essex Branch I would like to thank our sponsors Charles Rivers Laboratories for making this event possible I would really encourage other Branches to reach out to the Guide Dogs for the Blind and invite a speaker in for a truly inspirational scientific event and to raise money for a really worthwhile cause where people and dogs work together to help people live a better life Thank you Colin and Arthur for such an amazing evening Reporter Joanna Moore

26 March 2020 Bulletin Thank you IAT Herts and Essex Branch and Charles River Laboratories for raising 300 00 in support of Guide Dogs

Bulletin March 2020 31 DIARY Dates 19 March NIO Workshop London Details info learningcurvedevelopment co uk 23 March RSPCA meeting Focus on Fish Edinburgh Details https science rspca org uk sciencegroup researchanimals meetings 24 March 34th AGM of the Institute of Animal Technology Edinburgh Details http www ast2020 org 24 26 March AST 2020 Edinburgh Details https www ast2020 org and page 16 2 April NW Branch Steve Moore Memorial Poster Entry Deadline Details page 29 6 8 April Pathology of Laboratory Animals Module 3 Pathology of pigs and ferrets Utrecht Details https www fondazioneguidobernardini or g en programs yearly workshop series onpathology of laboratory animals module3 pathology of pigs and ferrets html 20 21 April Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer Workshop Hertfordshire Details info learningcurvedevelopment co uk Front cover 2019 Tech Month at Leicester 22 April Washing Care Maintenance of Tecniplast IVCs for Hygiene Logistics Technicians England Details info tecniplastuk com 23 April NW Branch Steve Moore Memorial Poster Competition Manchester Details page 29 28 April Project Licence Review for Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body Workshop London Details info learningcurvedevelopment co uk 20 May Irish Branch Symposium Dublin Details irelandiatsec gmail com 20 May Tecniplast IVC Knowledge Skills Refresher Course England Details info tecniplastuk com 1st June 2020 AAALAC Fellowship Award Closing date Details See page 13 22 23 June LASA Transgenics Forum London Details https www lasa co uk lasameetings 21 November AS ET IAT Celebratory Ball London Details Elaine LBS biotech com Courtesy of Adrian Woodhouse