Which of the following is an example of a direct cost?

• A. Utilities and building maintenance
• B. Supplies for husbandry and technical activities
• C. Administrative overhead
• D. Public relations

Answer: (B)

Direct costs are those that can be linked to a specific project, protocol, or group of animals—the costs that you can trace straight to a particular activity. In the lab animal setting, supplies used to actually care for animals and carry out experimental procedures are direct because they are expended for a defined study or animal group. Those are the items you can assign to a specific protocol or project.

So, supplies for husbandry and technical activities—things like materials used to feed, house, handle, and perform procedures on the animals—fit this category because they are consumed specifically for those activities and can be attributed to the particular study.

Facility utilities and building maintenance, administrative overhead, and public relations are broader, ongoing costs that support many activities and aren’t tied to a single protocol, so they’re considered indirect costs.