The conditioned place preference test for assessing welfare consequences and potential refinements in a mouse bladder cancer model.

Most pre-clinical analgesic efficacy assays still involve nociceptive testing in rodents. This is despite concerns as to the relevance of these tests for evaluating the pain-preventative properties of drugs. More appropriate methods would target pain rather than nociception, but these are currently not available, so it remains unknown whether animal pain equates to the negatively affective and subjective/emotional state it causes in humans.

Nurse eggs form through an active process of apoptosis in the spionid Polydora cornuta (Annelida).

The production of nurse eggs is fundamental to poecilogony in some species of spionid annelids. In species such as Polydora cornuta, nurse-egg production varies among females and ingestion of nurse eggs varies among young, resulting in a form of poecilogony with divergent phenotypes for females (e.g.

Are we looking in the wrong place? Implications for behavioural-based pain assessment in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculi) and beyond?

Background: Successful observation of behaviour depends upon knowing both which behaviours to look for and focusing on the appropriate areas of the body to observe them. Behaviour based scoring systems have become increasingly widely used to assess animal pain and distress. Although studies are available demonstrating which behaviours need to be observed, there has been little attempt to assess how effectively observers apply such information when viewing an animal's behaviour.

Reported analgesic administration to rabbits undergoing experimental surgical procedures.

Background: It has become widely accepted that whenever animals are used in scientific procedures, the 3Rs principle of replacement, reduction and refinement described by William Russell and Rex Burch should be adhered to. Animals should be replaced with non-sentient alternatives if possible, the number of animals used should be reduced and experimental procedures should be refined to minimise pain, suffering and distress. Administration of analgesic agents to animals undergoing surgical procedures is a refinement used to alleviate pain.