Animal Purchases, Imports & Exports
All animals must be ordered through the Animal Resource Purchasing Coordinator's Office.
- Ordering Animals
- Rejection of Orders
- Animal Procurement Costs
- Exports from URMC
- Imports to URMC
- Cryorecovery & Cryopreservation Resources
- Transfer of Ownership of Animals
Ordering Animals
The Animal Resource Purchasing Coordinator Office is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. All animals must be requisitioned through the Animal Resource Purchasing Coordinator Office. No separate or special arrangements may be made to obtain any animals from any source, commercial, institutional or private. Orders may be placed during regularly scheduled office hours.
The deadline for ordering is 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday one full week prior to the week in which delivery will occur, except NIA rodent orders which need to be placed on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. the week prior to delivery. All orders placed after the 4:00 p.m. Wednesday deadline will be placed the following week. Delivery also depends on the availability of animals from the vendor and weather conditions.
Our online orders must be received by the required deadlines.
If there are any errors, the Animal Resource Purchasing Coordinator must be called/emailed immediately so that the necessary corrections may be made prior to the animal(s) being shipped. The responsibility for verifying the accuracy of an order rests with the principle investigator or his/her designee.
All cancellations and changes must be received by the ordering deadline in order to be accommodated.
Rejection of Animals
All requests to reject animals for health reasons must be supported by a DCM veterinarian. All inquiries about animal rejection must be made to the DCM veterinary staff or Animal Resource Purchasing Coordinator within 48 hours of arrival.
Animals are observed for signs of ill health upon arrival and housing by laboratory animal technicians and assistants. All investigators should also check their animals upon notification of arrival and report any problems within 48 hours.
An Animal Rejection Form must be processed in order to reject any animal. You can obtain a form from the Animal Resource Purchasing Coordinator . Any animal approved for rejection within 48 hours of arrival will be returned to the vendor or be euthanized. The vendor will credit the Vivarium for the cost of the animal. The investigator may be responsible for per diem charges for rejected animals.
Animal Procurement Costs
The Vivarium charges an investigator's account for the cost of an animal plus a service charge. In addition, all other costs incurred by the Vivarium to procure the animal and bring the animal into the facility in compliance with our programs, will be recharged to the investigator. These costs include, but are not limited to: box charges, water kit charges, vaccines, collars, tattooing, shipping charges, and the cost of constructing shipping crates for animals when necessary.
Animal Purchase Surcharge
Effective July 1, 2023 the Animal Purchase Surcharge will be 3% per animal. The maximum surcharge per animal will be $30.00 for animals costing over $1,000.
Animal Vendor Freight and Box Charges 2024
| Vendor | Total | Crate | Freight/Box | Surcharge/Box |
| CRL Standard Box | $98.75 | $31.05 | $67.70 | N/A |
| CRL GSS Box | $83.32 | $52.55 | $30.77 | N/A |
| Jackson | $92.75 | $19.75 | $73.00 | N/A |
| Taconic | ||||
| Envigo |
Exports from the University of Rochester/URMC
All animal shipments from the University of Rochester/URMC requires approval from the Animal Resource and the Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA). Exports may not be performed without involvement of both these parties.
If you have any questions about Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) or need to start the approval process for an MTA, please contact ORPA at MTA@Rochester.edu. Exports cannot proceed without an approved MTA. Please ensure this step is complete prior to filling out an export form.
Why MTA's are needed for Exports
Animals that are paired, found to be pregnant, or dams with pups will not be shipped due to the nature of stress during the shipping process. Please separate your paired male and female animals and ensure animals are weaned before proceeding with the export process to prevent shipment delays.
All cages scheduled for export must have a navy blue “Shipout” or “Export” cage card placed behind their standard cage card. These cards may be obtained from the Animal Resource Office during normal business hours. (M-F, 8 am – 4:30 pm). Please note the total number of cages, barcodes of cages, and total number of male and female animals prior to filling out the Export Form. This information is required to proceed with shipments.
Only the Animal Resource may communicate with the courier and pack animals for shipment. The Animal Resource charges a per-shipment fee for all exports to cover technician time in preparing and processing the shipment. Domestic exports range from $132-165. International shipments are $200.
All rodents shipping from of the UR will be packed in Charles River GSS crates. A per-crate charge of $70 will be assessed upon completion of your export. Each crate can hold up to 2 cages and includes bedding, food and hydration gel pack.
For international shipments that require a USDA health certificate, there is an additional $150 fee if the receiving institution does not use World Courier as their shipping transporter.
Contact Import_Exports@urmc.rochester.edu with any questions regarding the animal export process.
Animal Imports from Non-Approved Vendors/Institutions
No animals may be brought into the University from other non-approved vendors or institutions or from the wild without prior approval from a DCM veterinarian and Vivarium supervisor. To acquire animals from a non-approved vendors/institutions, an Animal Import Form must be completed and submitted to the Animal Resource Office.
Cryorecovery & Cryopreservation Resources
Cryopreservation & Cryorecovery Information for Investigators
Transferring Ownership of Animals
All animal transfers from one investigator to another must be approved in advance by Animal Resource Office and UCAR. The investigator transferring animals should complete an Animal Transfer Form. Once approved, new cage tags will be made and supplied to the investigator to affix to the cages. The Vivarium will process the changes as soon as possible. The new investigators may not use the transferred animals until the transfer has been completed and the cage tags are changed.