This paper highlights the areas in which refinement, with the specific aim of reducing laboratory animal pain, distress and anxiety, can be achieved. Good husbandry and housing which meet the animals’ behavioural needs, careful and gentle handling, competence in carrying out scientific procedures, and alleviation of any unwanted side-effects, are all of paramount importance. Whilst “suffering” cannot easily be tightly defined, it is essential to recognise when an animal is suffering so that its alleviation can be instigated.
HerzogH.A.Jr. (1989). The moral status of mice.ILAR News31, 2–3.
2.
NovakM.A., and MeyerJ.S. (1990). Seeking the sources of animal suffering.Behavioural Brain Science13, 31–32.
3.
RileyV. (1981). Psychoendocrine influences on immunosuppression and neoplasia.Science212, 1100–1109.
4.
WeberH.W., & Van Der WaltJ.J. (1973). Cardiomyopathy in crowded rabbits.South African Medical Journal47, 1589–1595.
5.
Anon. (1989). Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals used in Scientific Procedures. House of Commons Paper 107. London: HMSO.
6.
MortonD.B. (1989). The scientist's responsibility for refinement: a guide to better animal welfare and better science. In Why Experiment on Animals? (ed. LangleyG.), pp. 169–192. London: Macmillan.
7.
NeremR.M., LevesqueM.J., and CornhillJ.F. (1980). Social environment as a factor in diet-induced atherosclerosis.Science208, 1475–1476.
8.
KaplanJ.R. (1983). Social stress and atherosclerosis in normocholesterolaemic monkeys.Science220, 733–735.
9.
Anon. (1987). AVMA colloquium on the recognition and alleviation of animal pain and distress: panel report.Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association191, 1186–1191.
10.
MelzackR., and WallP. (1982). The Challenge of Pain, 2nd edn.447 pp. London: Penguin.
11.
SelyeH. (1956). The Stress of Life.New York: McGraw-Hill.
12.
HoistD.V. (1986). Vegetative and somatic components of tree shrews’ behaviour.Journal of the Autonomic Nervous System, Suppl. 657–670.
13.
LandiM.S., KreiderJ.W., and LangC.M. (1982). Effects of shipping on the immune function of mice.American Journal of Veterinary Research43, 1654–1657.
14.
EwbankR. (1985). Behavioural responses to stress in farm animals. In Animal Stress (ed. MobergG.P.), pp. 71–79. Bethesda, MD, USA: American Physiological Society.
15.
RidleyR.M., and BakerH.F. (1982). Stereotypy in monkeys and humans.Psychological Medicine12, 61–72.
16.
BroomD.M. (1988). The scientific assessment of animal welfare.Applied Animal Behaviour Science20, 5–19.
17.
DawkinsM.S. (1980). Animal Suffering. 149 pp. London: Chapman & Hall. Also see: Dawkins, M.S. (1990). From an animals standpoint: motivation, fitness and animal welfare.Behaviour and Brain Sciences13, 1–61.
18.
MobergG.P. (1985). Biological response to stress: key to assessment of animal well-being. In Animal Stress (ed. MobergG.P.), pp. 27–49. Bethesda, MD, USA: American Physiological Society.
19.
GibsonT.G. ed. (1989). BVA Animal Welfare Symposium: The Detection and Control of Fear in Animals.79 pp. London: BVA.
CloughG. (1982). Environmental effects on animals used in biomedical research.Biological Reviews57, 487–523.
22.
SalesG.D., EvansJ., MilliganS.R., and LangridgeA. (1989). Effects of environmental ultrasound on behaviour of laboratory rats. In Laboratory Animal Welfare Research: Rodents, pp. 7–16. Potters Bar, UK: UFAW.
23.
MortonD.B., BurghardtG., and SmithJ.A. (1990). Critical anthropomorphism, animal suffering and the ecological context.Hastings Center Report on Animals, Science and Ethics20, 13–19.
24.
WallaceJ., SanfordJ., SmithM.W., and SpencerK.V. (1990). The assessment and control of the severity of scientific procedures on laboratory animals.Laboratory Animals24, 97–130.
25.
SanfordJ., EwbankR., MalonyV., TavernorW.D., and UvarovO. (1989). Guidelines for the Recognition and Assessment of Pain in Animals, 23 pp. Potters Bar, UK: UFAW.
26.
SpinelliJ.S., and MarkowitzH. (1987). AVMA colloquium on the recognition and alleviation of animal pain and distress: clinical recognition and anticipation of situations likely to induce suffering in animals.Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association191, 1216–1218.
27.
SomaL.A. (1987). Assessment of animal pain in experimental animals.Laboratory Animal Science January Special Issue, 5, 71–74.
28.
GriffithsP.H.M. (1990). Clinical assessment of pain, distress and discomfort. In Animals in Biomedical Research (ed. HendriksenC.F.), Amsterdam: Elsevier.
29.
MortonD.B., and GriffithsP.H.M. (1985). Guidelines on the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort in experimental animals and an hypothesis for assessment.Veterinary Record116, 431–436.
30.
MortonD.B. (1987). AVMA colloquium on the recognition and alleviation of animal pain and distress: summarisation of colloquium highlights from an international perspective (epilogue).Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association191, 1292–1296.
31.
British Toxicology Society (1984). A new approach to the classification of substances and preparations on the basis of their acute toxicity.Human Toxicology3, 85–92.
32.
Anon. (1990). Conclusions of the EC seminar on “LD50 and classification schemes — the possibilities for change” (Brussels, 19–21 September, 1989) and an EC Commission statement.ATLA17, 63–64.
33.
WoolfC.J. (1983). Evidence for a central component of post-injury pain hypersensitivity.Nature306, 686–688.
34.
Anon. (1990). Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. House of Commons Paper 182. London: HMSO.
