American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines On Euthanasia
Brandi Wendelberger
The JAVMA welcomes manuscripts of broad clinical relevance in the following categories: Original Research, Technical Tutorial Video, Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis, Narrative Review, Viewpoint, Case Series, Case Report, and Clinical Challenges and Did You Know. Manuscripts with clear clinical application will receive priority for publication. Letters to the Editor are also welcome. Commentaries, White Papers, Currents in One Heath, and Spotlights are solicited by invitation only.
Authors are encouraged to determine the most appropriate category for their manuscript and then prepare their manuscript following the instructions provided below for that particular category. Questions can be sent to AVMAJo...@avma.org.
The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association is a peer-reviewed journal that has been serving the veterinary and biomedical professions since 1863. The JAVMA has the highest circulation of any veterinary medical journal in the world and ranks among the most frequently cited veterinary medical journals. Because the JAVMA is one of the few general veterinary medical journals still in existence, its readership crosses the entire veterinary profession, from clinical practice to academia, research, government work, and public health.
Individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet all 4 of these criteria should not be listed as authors but should be included in the Acknowledgments section. Requests to list a working group or study group in the byline will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
A manuscript deemed by the editorial team to require extensive revisions prior to further consideration will be rejected with the option to resubmit after reformatting and/or editing has been performed.
The journal does not endorse any specific editing service, and provide these examples of suitable services authors that might consider include: Cactus, Bioscience Writers, American Journal Experts, and the Nature Research Editing Service. Please note when working with a professional language editing service, authors should choose full medical editing with journal formatting, rather than simply proofreading, and that changes should comply with these instructions for authors.
With the exception of reports of retrospective studies based solely on historical data, manuscripts describing studies that involved the use of animals, including studies that involved the use of privately owned animals (eg, animals owned by clients, staff members, students, or private entities), must include a statement that the study protocol was reviewed and approved by an appropriate oversight entity (eg, an animal care and use committee or institutional review board) or was performed in compliance with institutional or other (eg, governmental or international) guidelines for research on animals.
For any manuscript containing patient information (eg, patient descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees) that would allow specific animals or their owners to be identified, the authors must obtain a signed statement of informed consent to publish the information (in print and online) from the owners. Generally, such consent should include an opportunity for the owner to read the manuscript to be submitted for publication. If necessary, nonessential identifying data can be removed, unless clinically or epidemiologically important. However, identifying data may not be altered or falsified.
Authors must also obtain informed consent to publish from any identifiable person appearing in photographs. Importantly, these guidelines also apply to any materials (eg, text, photographs, or videos) submitted for posting as supplementary materials.
Manuscripts submitted to the journal following or prior to presentation at a scientific meeting or publication of preliminary findings elsewhere, such as in abstract form, will be considered for publication. Publication of abstracts and posting of slides or videos of the scientific presentation in a print or online conference proceedings is acceptable.
Posting preprints of research manuscripts in progress or in submission on a public server is not considered prior publication and is also acceptable. Preprints are defined as research manuscripts that have not undergone formal peer review by a journal. Preprints may also be posted at any time during the review process.
Authors should disclose preprint posting, including DOI, URL link, and license details, at the time of manuscript submission or during the review process. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.
Media coverage of presentations at scientific meetings will not jeopardize consideration, but direct release of results beyond what was included in the abstract through press releases or news media briefings may preclude consideration of the manuscript by this journal.
The AVMA journals generally follow the guidance provided in the most recent edition of the AMA Manual of Style. More specific instructions are provided in each of the linked items listed under Manuscript Categories and Other Resources at the top of this page.
Articles published in the JAVMA are posted to the journal's website at no charge to the authors. However, access to the full text of these articles is restricted to subscribers or available on a pay-per-view basis.
Authors can choose to have their manuscript made freely available in open access format for all to read, download, and share. The open access fee is $1,250. For information on joining the AVMA or renewing your AVMA membership, please click here. Open access articles will be licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC license.
Welcome to Norecopa, Norway's 3R platform!
A global Map of 3R Centres and Networks
The PREPARE Guidelines for Planning Animal Research and Testing
International Webinars and Meetings Calendar
Creating a Culture of Care
Alternatives to dissection
Lessons learned from COVID-19
The AVMA guidelines for the euthanasia of animals are intended for use by members of the veterinary profession who carry out or oversee the euthanasia of animals. The overriding commitment of these guidelines is to provide veterinarians guidance in relieving pain and suffering of animals that are to be euthanized. The recommendations in the guidelines are intended to guide veterinarians, who must then use professional judgment in applying them to the various settings where animals are to be euthanized.
The AVMA Panel on Euthanasia develops the content of the guidelines, with support from its working groups. The panel is required to do a comprehensive review and update of the report at least every ten years, although more frequent major revisions are possible based on substantive information gleaned from new research and experience with practical implementation. To ensure the guidelines remain as up-to-date as possible, interim revisions (reflecting substantive updates, but of a less extensive nature than a major revision) are also accommodated, and minor editorial corrections are made as such items are identified (e.g., typographical errors, updating of website addresses).
For research to provide meaningful information, often, tissues must be analyzed in laboratory equipment. Many times this means those tissues must be collected from research animals, which requires that the animal be humanely euthanized.
The American Veterinary Medical Association, the national professional society for graduate, licensed veterinarians, has provided a set of guidelines for proper euthanization of animals in a pain free and distress free manner.
When any Texas Tech animal is being euthanized, the techniques must adhere to the University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Policy on Euthanasia and be reviewed with veterinary input, and approved by the IACUC.
Texas Tech University recognizes that euthanasia is distressing, but still required for many animal studies. When possible, data collection methods are used, which allow the animal to live. In other situations, the animal must be humanely euthanized, for proper collection of animal tissue. When meaningful research requires those endpoints, Texas Tech adheres to the guidelines established by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The following is a summary of the American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines for euthanizing cattle, with assistance from Dr Dee Griffin, University of Nebraska, ProfessorJames P Reynolds, Western University of Veterinary Medicine, Pomona and Glen T Johnson, director at the Reedsburg Veterinary Clinic.
The team states that it is imperative that all who work with livestock are prepared for animal euthanasia and that there are many ways to induce death, but not all are humane or relevant for a euthanasia discussion.
Penetrating captive bolt is also used for euthanasia of mature cattle in field situations. Unlike euthanasia with firearms, once the animal is rendered unconscious, an adjunctive method to insure death must be applied. Styles of penetrating captive bolt include an in-line (cylindrical) and pistol grip (resembling a handgun) versions. Pneumatic captive bolt guns (air powered) are limited to use in slaughter plant environments. Models using gunpowder charges are more often used in farm environments. Depending upon model, the bolt may automatically retract or require manual placement back into the barrel through the muzzle.
Accurate placement of the captive bolt over the ideal anatomical site, energy (i.e. bolt velocity) and depth of penetration of the bolt determine effectiveness of the device to cause a loss of consciousness and death. Bolt velocity is dependent on maintenance, in particular cleaning and storage of the cartridge charges. Captive bolt guns should be cleaned regularly using the same or similar solvents used in the cleaning of firearms. Powder charges for the captive bolt should be stored in air tight containers to prevent damage from moisture in hot and humid conditions.
c80f0f1006