Lecture 21 - 22
Animal Welfare
Welfare exists on a spectrum
Recognises sentience (animals can feel and perceive)
Good welfare = good research outcomes
Animal Welfare Frameworks
Old: 5 Freedoms
Current: 5 Domains
(Physical & functional components + mental state)
The 3Rs
Replace – avoid or replace animal use where possible
Reduce – use the minimum number needed for valid results
Refine – minimise pain/distress, optimise care
Not all true replacements exist (some animal use still necessary)
Public Opinion & Social License
Social license = refers to something that we do that is socially acceptable and we're permitted to do it because the public and society feels that it is worthy enough of being done, even if there are potential harms or disadvantages to some groups or in this case, animals.
~60% Australians support biomedical research
~85% oppose cosmetic testing
Public trust = social license to continue research
Ethical and transparent practices are essential
Animal Research & Teaching
Acceptable/Ethical for now
→ Social license is key and rigorous ethical decision making
Must apply 3Rs and Best Animal Welfare rigorously for best outcomes until alternatives are available
Few alternatives may never be available
e.g:
Teaching animal handling will inevitably eventually use animals
Research for better drugs in dogs will inevitably use dogs
But we can do it better!
Applying the 5 Domains + 3Rs
Framework for assessing welfare impact
Combines physical and mental welfare measures
Used for welfare assessments and ethical reviews
Animal Ethics Committees (AECs)
Membership:
A – Veterinarian
B – Researcher/Teacher
C – Animal Welfare representative
D – Lay person
AEC Responsibilities:
Review & approve only ethical, humane, justified applications
AEC are required to review & only approve applications for research and teaching with animals that are humane, ethical and justified
AEC reject anything unclear or unjustified
Assess:
3Rs application
Replace = avoid animals entirely
Reduce = minimum # for valid work
Refine = minim
Welfare standards
Scientific validity
Animal monitoring & care
Cumulative burden
Harm/benefit analysis
Training/competence of personnel
Full details of procedures
Final fate of animals
Endpoints
Experimental endpoint = study’s end point
Humane endpoint = point where animal stress/pain requires removal from study
Animal Procedures (SOPs)
Examples:
Blood collection
Handling
Euthanasia
Animal Impact / Severity
Use severity scoring and risk assessment frameworks
Helps determine acceptable welfare impact
Adverse Effects / Events
Cumulative Burden
Total impact or ‘burden’ throughout study or lifetime
Goes from Start to End of the study (acquisition to final fate)
Similar to quality of life review
Affective state can be positive, neutral or negative
Teaching and Research animals
Teaching horse – single or repeated intramuscular injections x 4 a day over 15 yr
Teaching cow – single or repeated rectal exams x 4 day a day over 10 yr.
Influenza mouse – infected with flu virus (low or high pathogenic) over 3 weeks
Covid vaccine trials – infected with COVID and vaccinated (clinical or non- clinical) over 4 months
Production of antibodies for diagnostic testing of livestock over 24 months
Animal Monitoring
Monitoring of animals is legally required with good intervention criteria/points
Allows for proper endpoints
Ensures good animal welfare and early intervention
Detect issues non-experimental or experimental
Endemic diseases or husbandry issues etc.
Know normal vs abnormal
Choose relevant monitor indicators and equipment
Frequency is important
Record keeping is vital for trends and legal requirement
Best animal welfare practices = Good research outcomes
Harm / Benefit Analysis
Is the research valid, necessary, and ethically justified?
“We can do it — but should we?”
Final Fate of Animals
Possible outcomes:
Rehomed
Humanely euthanised (research or teaching purposes)
Returned to owner/farmer
Released to wild (if appropriate)
Sent to abattoir (depending on context)
Must follow biosecurity and ethical requirements
Before Using Animals
Always consider:
Apply 3Rs at every stage
Is it ethical, justified, and likely to succeed?
Assess animal welfare & impact (5 domains, severity tables)
Perform harm/benefit analysis
Obtain AEC review & approval
Apply best practice continuously
Remember: “We can do it, but should we?”
<aside> 💡
“The use of animals is a privilege. We are legally and morally obliged to ensure the best outcomes for all animals used in research and teaching.”
</aside>
<aside> 💡
“We brought them into this world, so we are responsible for them.”
</aside>
Biosecurity
The strategic and integrated approach to analyse and manage relevant risks to human, animal, plant and the environment.
Biosecurity in Lab Animals involves:
Keeping things in → protecting outside world
Keeping things out → protecting animals/research inside
There are different classifications of facilities
Strict work practices and procedures
Licensing and regulatory/legal requirements
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are also treated in a similar way
Staff and equipment can be difficult to get in or out of a facility
Quarantine periods apply
Some equipment may need to be autoclaved or chemically sterilised
Can cause permanent damage
Some food, enrichment, and rehoming of animals may not be possible
If I doubt always ask to avoid critical failures and mistakes
IF a mistake is made immediately notify the biosecurity manager
Animal Facilities
Facilities that care and manage animals for research and teaching
Dookie
Werribee
Parkville
Staffed by:
Animal Facility Manager → can be a vet
Lab Animal vets → slightly different to the AWO role
Should have 2 or more vets ideally
Animal technicians → Senior to Junior
Designated trainers
Cage wash attendants
General facilities staff
Good Animal Facility, Management, and Care
Essential for Good Welfare
Good welfare = Good research and teaching
Staff Competent
SOPs and processes
Appropriate and maintained equipment and infrastructure
Appropriate work flow, processes and design
Good work culture and staffed appropriately
Well treated staff are more likely to treat animals well
Culture of Care
Continuously improving and upskilling
Key Elements for Animal Facility Management
Construction to permit PC/BSL certification → Building materials
Biosecure/Biosecurity & Quarantine
Ventilation, Heating, Cooling & Humidity
Lighting & Temperature
Water requirements
Waste Removal & Stores
Plumbing, Gas Piping and Electrical requirements
Utilities services and back-ups
Fail-safe and back up systems & redundancy
IT/Computer/Wifi
Gas piping requirements
Sterilisation and decontamination requirements
Safety systems (fire alarms, biological spill, shower/eye rinses)
Secure access, locked areas, CCTV etc.
Storage/Supplies (secure/non-secure/flammable)
Experimental and/or surgical rooms
Specialised systems (aquatic/germ-free)
Animal Enclosures & Stocking density
Noise & Vibration
Feed & Enrichment
Cleaning (building and animal enclosures)
Flow and movement of staff, work and animals
Correct equipment (staff, research and animals)
Pest control
General legal requirements
Disaster and Emergency Planning
Feed and prep rooms
Space for admin/people/training etc.
General Maintenance and ongoing costs
Sustainability & Future plans
Facility Design
SPF Area = entrance
Anteroom = PPE goes on or gown up or shower
Clean corridor = no waste products, nothing dirty, clean PPE at all times
Don’t come back here when you are dirty
Dirty corridor = where waste can be travelled, anything that isn’t clean basically
Routine Animal Care and Management
Daily monitoring
Check Health/Wellbeing (ie, teeth)
Food, water, cage enclosures clean
Experimental status/checks
Pre/post teaching checks
Import/Export of animals
Check health status is confirmed
Animal check/container check for transport
Quarantine before entry
Sign off as appropriate
Preventative care
Sentinel and disease testing
Equipment checks/calibration
Identification and handling of animals
Chipping, tattoo, ear notch, tags
Experimental and teaching procedures
Blood or tissues collection
Delivery of substances and microorganisms etc.
Breeding and genetic management
Rederivation of lines
CrispR, gene technologies/GMOs or mutant lines
Refresh lines for genetic integrity
Extra space and care for neonates/mothers
Flag abnormalities, adverse events or vet checks
Monitoring of Animals & Facilities
Legal Requirement – Daily
Signs of wellbeing → Must know normal from abnormal
Special genetics signs
Experimental signs
Social interactions and recall most are prey species
Be aware: New people and presence of males can alter animal behaviour
Rooms & buildings must be monitored
Temperature, humidity, lighting cycle, water quality (aquatics)
Ringtail = rats and mice = tail atrophy and decays due to poor humidity
Air quality
Enclosures, water, bedding, food, toys, cleanliness etc.
Alarms & equipment are working
Must be recorded
Need to make sure we monitor water quality on top of animal and room monitoring sheets
Common Husbandry and Animal Procedures
Genotyping
Animal identification methods
Traditionally ear clipping or tail/fin snipping being superseded by hair, saliva or mucous/slime swabs
Breeding for specific genetics and maintain genetic integrity
Rederivation
Cross fostering
Timed matings
Experimental
Blood sampling
Anaesthesia & Surgery with pain relief (unless special exemption)
Administration of drugs or substances (IM, IV, IP/ICo, SC)
Tumour or infectious disease induction
Basic animal observations, weights, BCS etc.
Behavioural testing
Humane Killing/Euthanasia 2 step process ideal like in clinics
Special Breeding Techniques - Rederivation
Rederivation is the process where fertilized embryos are removed from pregnant females mice and transferred to foster mothers free of disease
Dams are humanely killed under general anaesthetics in the process
Foster mothers are implanted with embryos
Need to be synchronised to ensure embryo transfer
Technique similar to what is used in Dairy cattle, Equines and Humans
Used as a last resort to save valuable lines and genetics
High welfare impact as dams need to be humanely killed
High cost in time, effort and money
Common Conditions & Diseases in Lab Animal
Malocclusion – rodents, rabbits, guinea pigs
Dermatitis – rats and mice
Overgrown hooves or nails
Irradiated and autoclaved food can lose nutritional value if not supplemented correctly
Enclosure floods due to animals playing with sippers/drinkers
Misadventure and injuries
Fighting (especially rodents as they are left intact)
Congenital diseases → imperforate vagina, hydrocephalus etc. due to requirements for inbreeding for specific genetics
Prolapses of vagina or anus (mice mostly)
Disease of breeding (ie, dystocia)
Lumps and bumps (mice and rats mostly due to aging colonies)
Disease and Adverse Event Investigation
History
Discuss with facility staff and researchers/teachers
Phenotype and genotype are important
Examine animal
Observe first
Handle second
Diagnostic tests
May or may not be possible
Individual vs Herd health management
Experimental and genetic value considerations
Identify other constraints
Feasible to treat?
Feasible to keep on study?
Safe to continue use for teaching/staff/students?
Disease and Adverse Event Investigation
Come up with plan:
Treat (if feasible)
Can use off-label
Must be aware of confounding factors
Must have defined treatment end points
Must update monitoring for staff
May need to isolate animal
Euthanise
Tissues and samples may need to be collected
Necropsy to be performed
Additional actions
Equipment (fix or replace)
Process/SOP review (update or create)
Prevent, Manage and Educate/Re-train
Notify, update and record
Report to AEC or non-compliance units or animal ethics units as needed
Record Keeping
Legal and Auditing Requirement
Preventative, individual and herd health management
Identify trends and analyse:
Health
Production
Breeding
Health Status
Sentinel testing
Ensures good reliable research
Computer systems or paper records scanned
Veterinarians in Animal Welfare & Lab Animal Medicine
Roles
Clinical Lab Animal Vet
Animal Welfare Officer
Animal Facility Manager
3Rs officer
AEC members = Category A, B or C
Animal welfare/ethics consultant
Regulator
Auditor
Potential Responsibilities
Preventative care & Veterinary treatment
Review/refine projects and applications
Advise best practices in animal welfare and the 3Rs for research and teaching
Specialised training of staff and students
Oversee experimental work/procedures
Create and implement SOPs and policies
Develop novel or better ways to implement animal and 3Rs
Experimental design
Animal health monitoring programs
Import/export certificates for animals
Adverse event management and investigation
Input and advise for all things animal related
Summary
Good Welfare is fundamental to good research and teaching
Which depends on many factors including but limited to:
Good Biosecurity
Good animal Facility design and Management
Good Staff
Good disease control, investigation, adverse event management
Good veterinary management/care
<aside> 💡
We brought them into this world, so we are responsible for them.
</aside>