Resolving Animal Distress and Pain: Principles and Examples of Good Practice in Various Fields of Research

Authors

Alicia Karas, Tufts University
Matthew C. Leach, Newcastle University
Karl A. Andrutis, University of Florida
Kathleen Conlee, The Humane Society of the United StatesFollow
John P. Gluck, University of New MexicoFollow
Andrew N. Rowan, The Humane Society of the United StatesFollow
Martin L. Stephens, The Humane Society of the United StatesFollow

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2009

Abstract

Pain and distress are central topics in legislation, regulations, and standards regarding the use of animals in research. However, in practice, pain has received greatly increased attention in recent years, while attention to distress has lagged far behind, especially for distress that is not induced by pain. A contributing factor is that there is less information readily available on distress, including practical information on its recognition, assessment and alleviation.

This chapter attempts to help fill that void by reversing the usual pattern and giving greater attention to distress than to pain. In addition, we also bypass the pain versus distress dichotomy by adopting a holistic treatment of adverse effects, i.e., not parsing distress and pain, by providing guidance on how to assess deviations from normality through tools such as score sheets. Our aim is to provide practical information to IACUCs, scientists, technicians and animal care personnel.

We organize the chapter according to specific research areas and case studies. However, the principles and approaches are readily generalized to other research areas.

CONTENTS

• Effect of surgical technical skill on pain and distress in animals - Alicia Karas, DVM
• Carbon dioxide euthanasia: example of aversion techniques - Matthew C. Leach, PhD
• The Refinement of Infectious Disease Research - Karl A. Andrutis DVM, MS, DACLAM
• Polyclonal antibody production - Kathleen Conlee, BS, MPA
• Animal models of human psychopathology: anxiety - John P. Gluck PhD
• Refinement In Toxicology Testing: A Workshop to Promote Current Advances and Disseminate Best Practices - Andrew N. Rowan, Martin L. Stephens, and Kathleen M. Conlee

Comments

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS A BOOK CHAPTER

Recommended Citation

Karas, Alicia; Leach, Matthew C.; Andrutis, Karl A.; Conlee, Kathleen; Gluck, John P.; Rowan, Andrew N.; and Stephens, Martin L., "Resolving Animal Distress and Pain: Principles and Examples of Good Practice in Various Fields of Research" (2009). Laboratory Experiments Collection. 22.
https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/acwp_lab/22