The CIMeC ACN Animal Facility is a highly specialized installation that supports the ACN Laboratory, authorized by the Ministry of Health with number 12/2020-UT of 14/09/2020 in accordance with Legislative Decree 26/2014. The facility has been designed to support scientific activity in compliance with the guidelines contained in Legislative Decree 26/2014, which implements Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, and is dedicated to the breeding of vertebrate animals and the safeguarding of their welfare in a confined environment.
The entire facility covers an area of approximately 500 square meters and is divided into two separate areas, one exclusively for rodents and the other reserved for birds and fishes. The spaces in the ACN Animal Facility are organized into animal breeding rooms, behavioral experimentation rooms with attached surgical and biosafety containment areas up to BSL2 level, and technical rooms to support the breeding, care, and welfare of the animals.
Each room is equipped with a timed lighting system, a ventilation system that allows adequate air exchange, and a temperature and humidity control system. The microbiological quality level is "conventional," and animal housing is subject to scrupulous care by the animal care staff to limit possible sources of contamination from pathogenic organisms. The ACN Animal Facility ensures and maintains the health of the animals bred in compliance with legislative provisions on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, always guaranteeing the best hygienic and sanitary conditions and microbiological and parasitological monitoring. To this end, periodic health and environmental monitoring of the animals is scheduled.
Access to the animal housing rooms is through a monitoring and registration system for authorized personnel using a magnetic stripe card reader. In addition, outside of working hours, animal safety is ensured by a volumetric alarm system with strategically placed sensors in both the main corridors and technical rooms.
The daily care of the animals, including feeding, water, temperature and humidity control, health monitoring, and pain management, is entrusted to specialized staff provided by an external contractor. Their animal housing service includes a wide range of activities to ensure animal welfare and compliance with safety and hygiene standards.
The ACN Animal Facility at CIMeC is equipped to house up to approximately 6,000 mice and 400 rats in Individually Ventilated Cages (IVC) for experimentation and/or breeding purposes, 1,000 chicks in custom-built stainless cages, and around 3,000 fish in specific automated systems and standard breeding tanks.