Department of Physiology - The University of Arizona

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Animal Stress Survey

Instructions: The following is a Survey on the Quality of Housing Conditions in Animal Facilities. Please read the questions carefully and answer them or tick the category that most applies to you. In order to help us, please answer all the questions in the survey.

Your Name (optional):

Gender

Male
Female
What is your age group?

16 - 25
26 - 35
36 - 45
46 - 55
56 - 65
65+
What is your job title?

Professor
Assistant /Associate Professor
Veterinarian
Medical Doctor
Research Specialist
Laboratory Technician
Animal Facility Technician
Other Please state:
What qualifications do you have?

PhD
MS
BS
MD
DVM
Other Please state:
What animals do you work with?

Dogs / Cats
Rats / Mice
Pigs / Monkeys
Birds / Fish
Other
What type of institution do you work for?

Academic
Industry
Government
How long have you worked in the area of animal research?

1-2 years
2-5 years
5+ years
How often do you go to the animal facility?

Everyday
Almost everyday
At least once a week
Once a month
Once every six months
Never
On average, how many hours do you spend in the animal facility a week?

0 hours
0 - 1 hours
2 - 4 hours
5+ hours
How often do you do animal surgeries?

Everyday
At least once a week
Once a month
Once every six months
Never

The following is a list of items that may or may not have affected your work. Please tell us if you have encountered any of these and how often:

	All The Time	Once A Month	Once In 6 Months	Once A Year	Never
Disease in experimental animals
Problems with animal housing
Loss of breeding colonies
Problems with noise level in animal facility
Problems with Ventilation
Other Please state:

Did any of the items above affect the outcome of your research?

Yes
No
If so, what were the problems and how did they affect the outcome of your research?
How many cages are there in each animal room?
How many animals are housed per cage?
Are animals from more than one experimenter housed in the same animal room?

Yes
No
How many times do people go in and out of the room in which your animals are housed each day?

Never
Once a day
Twice a day
3 - 5 times a day
6 - 10 times a day
10+ times a day
How many different people are likely to come into contact with your experimental animals each week (including animal facility technician, laboratory technician, graduate student etc)?

None
1
2
3-4 times a day
5-10 times a day
How often do your experimental animals have human contact each week (including any type of handling, feeding, cleaning etc)?

None
1-5 times
6-10 times
11-15 times
16+ times

On the whole, what is your animal facility like?
Instructions: Mark (X) at the point between each pair of words that best describes the conditions of your animal facility.

Noisy						Quiet
Clean						Dirty
Spacious						Cluttered
Humid						Dry
Odor-Free						Smelly
Good						Bad

Do any of the following produce clearly audible noise or sound in your animal facility?

Fans / Ventilators
Doors
People
Carts
Animals barking, meowing etc.
Cage washers
Other things in the animal facility (e.g. door bells, alarm bells)
Please state:
Other things outside animal facility (e.g. traffic, construction)
Please state:
None of the above
Are any of the following items found in the same room as your experimental animals or in adjacent corridors?

Ventilation Fans
Cage Washers
Fluorescent / Infrared Lighting
Oscilloscopes
Squeaky Equipment (e.g. chairs, doors, carts)
Computing Equipment
TV / Video Equipment
Telephones
What is the proximity between the animals' cage and essential equipment (e.g. cage washers)?

Same room
Adjacent room
Same part of building
Remote
Which of the following behaviors is typical of your experimental animals:

Sleeping
Grooming self
Grooming cage mates
Scratching
Eating
Drinking
Sitting still while awake
Locomotion
Rearing
Gnawing at cage
Gnawing at bedding
Biting
Fighting

Instructions: The following are statements on a 5-point scale ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. Please read them carefully and tick the category that most applies to you.

	Strongly Agree	Agree	Don't Know	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
Environmental factors such as housing conditions & conditions in the animal facility can contribute to physiological changes in research animals
Environmental factors such as housing conditions and conditions in the animal facility can be stressful to research animals
Artificial noise or sound in the animal facility such as door bells and cage washers can contribute to physiological changes in research animals
Artificial noise or sound in the animal facility such as door bells and cage washers can be stressful to research / laboratory animals
Laboratory animals are more likely to experience prolonged periods of stress since they are unable to escape from their stressors compared to animals in the wild
Stress in laboratory / research animals affects the outcome of research
Minor pain / stress causes physiological changes in research animals
Significant pain / stress causes physiological changes in research animals

In general, how do your experimental animals appear
Instructions: Mark (X) at the point between each pair of words that best describes your experimental animals.

Calm						Anxious
Content						Discontent
Under-Weight						Over-weight
Active						Passive
Alert						Bored
Healthy						Unhealthy

Is there anything within your animal facility that might be contributing to stress in your experimental animals?

Yes
No
Is there anything about the housing conditions of your experimental animals that might be contributing to stress?

Yes
No
Is there any way to eliminate the stress-causing source/s?

Yes
No
Have you taken any action to eliminate the stress-causing source/s?

Yes
No
If so, what action/s did you take?
What were the results of your actions?
Please tell us about any ideas or thoughts you have to improve housing conditions, animal facilities, guidelines, policies and quality in animal research.