美国Animal Care Systems, Inc. 
Founded in 1997, this is the first company run by a veterinarian scientist with experience in directing AAALAC-accredited animal care & use programs. The company has invested heavily in research and development to bring a better mouse cage to the life science industry.

Animal Care Systems offices and manufacturing facility

Germain F. Rivard, DVM, PhD, ACS founder, has vast experience in the veterinary science industry. His experience with animal facility planning, design, and management produced the construction of the first Gene Transfer Technologies Training Center and Rodent Barrier Facility for genetically altered mouse colonies.

"I stepped down from my directorship because I was feeling miserable about the way we were keeping mice in the lab; my techs were sick and tired of changing cages, and I was always running out of space even though I had big rooms. Also, just like my peers, I disliked static and ventilated small isolation caging systems for the poor air quality and the bad air ventilation they provided to the mice. I decided to invent a completely new system that resolved all those problems cost-effectively.

It is an institutional responsibility to provide the best living conditions. The better the mice environment, the better they are. The more isolated and contained the mice are, the more protection they have. The less we touch the mice, the less risk that we compromise their health," states Dr. Rivard.

This led to his invention of the M.I.C.E.® closed-system housing system. This initial breakthrough into laboratory animal housing with a technically superior product was the genesis of ACS. Armed with the knowledge that institutional customers had few alternatives for taking full advantage of the higher performance and cost savings inherent in closed-system housing, ACS developed an alternative - M.I.C.E.®. All the needs of end-users were addressed through validation by computer modeling, anemometry, wind tunnel, and smoke tests as well as comprehensive animal studies. ACS is the only manufacturing company run by a scientist and user of animal caging/housing equipment. We are uniquely qualified to understand the needs of the life science community.