Preparation of animals is important for optimization of animal welfare as well as to minimize interanimal variation, thereby strengthening the quality of data for in vivo studies. These issues are important in the work of institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs), but they pose many challenges as well. This article provides IACUC members with a resource for use in determining whethe...

Many are critical of how regulatory testing practices have evolved and become established--critical both of the scientific rational and the animal welfare costs. The test of whether we are more enlightened than our predecessors will be whether, armed with more powerful scientific insights and a better understanding of animal welfare, we can ensure that the best animal welfare and the best scien...

BACKGROUND Tie-stall housing of dairy cows is used extensively worldwide, despite of the welfare concerns regarding the restriction of voluntary movement and limitation of expression of the cows' natural behaviour. The aim of this study was to compare the welfare quality of dairy cows kept in two types of tie-stall housing systems: with regular outdoor exercise and without access to exercise. I...

There is a growing effort worldwide to develop objective indicators for animal welfare assessment, which provide information on an animal's quality of life, are scientifically trustworthy, and can readily be used in practice by professionals. Animals are sentient beings capable of positive and negative emotion, and so these indicators should be sensitive not only to their physical health, but a...

A new law controlling the use of animals in scientific experiments is likely to come into force in Britain this year. A government bill called Animals (Scientiflc Procedures) is now passing through parliament. New legislation is long overdue. Biology has undergone a revolution since 1876 when Britain last enacted a major piece of legislation. Scientific knowledge of what is and what is not like...