Emergency instructions for Harvesting and Shipping Tissue from Pets



• Keep the deceased animal in a sanitary, cool environment at refrigerated temperatures from 35° to 45°F (2° to 5°C) until tissue samples are collected.
• DO NOT FREEZE.
• DO NOT BURY.
• Contact PERPETUATE immediately at 508-641-7775.
• Please follow the instructions below as it is too late to order and ship a tissue collection kit:

 

TISSUE HARVESTING

Obtain three or more sterile bottles for preserving and transporting the tissue samples. Bottles may be plastic or glass approximately 10 ml or 1 oz. size. Bottle size may vary if tissue is submerged in saline solution. Each bottle needs a screw cap that can be securely tightened to prevent leakage.

Prepare the transport media from standard 0.9% isotonic saline solution.

Choose a site on the body that is suitable for collecting both skin and underlying muscle tissue. Also include roughly a 0.5 x 0.5 full thickness piece of ear treated as below.
Closely shave the appropriate area; remove as much hair as possible to minimize contamination and perform a sterile skin prep. Rinse the area with sterile saline to remove the sterilization solution from the surface as this may affect the viability of the cells.
Using a biopsy punch, take two (4 to 6 mm) skin punches or use another surgical instrument such as a scalpel to take the tissue samples.
Place the samples in either a small (4 or 12 ml) sterile blood tube or other sterile container and add sterile saline to submerge the tissue to prevent drying and secure the lid.
In addition, harvest approximately 1 cubic centimeter of underlying skeletal muscle and place in another container and secure the lid. Maintain tissue samples in a refrigerator until they are shipped. DO NOT FREEZE.

Use cardboard and Styrofoam boxes and frozen ice packs to ship two vials of your tissue to our laboratory. If you cannot find the above, a standard six-pack type cooler is suitable and frozen vegetables can be used to substitute for ice packs.

Place a thin cardboard or similar between the tissue sample containers to avoid direct contact with the ice packs.

Please DO NOT seal the Styrofoam lid on the Styrofoam box with tape. Place Styrofoam box in cardboard box.

Immediately transport the package by overnight courier for 10:30 AM delivery to:

    Dr. Raymond Page PerPETuate
    Life Science & Bioengineering Center 60 Prescott St.
    Worcester, MA 01605
    508-641-7775

Use a commercial courier like FedEx or UPS. DO NOT USE US Post Office express service.

Please provide PERPETUATE with the courier’s name such as FedEx and tracking number by email at info@perpetuatelab.com or telephone at 508-641-7775.

Please contact Ray Page at any time if you have questions at 508-641-7775 or by email at info@perpetuatelab.com