Animal Welfare Information Center Newsletter, Spring 1995, Vol. 6 No. 1

CAAT Seeks Refinement Information

The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) is dedicated to fostering the development of scientifically acceptable in vitro technologies and other alternatives for use in the development and safety evaluation of commercial and therapeutic products. Alternatives are defined as methods which reduce animal use, replace whole animal tests, or refine existing tests by minimizing animal distress.

CAAT is in the process of compiling data on the forgotten "R," refinement. We are soliciting descriptions of refinement methods, developed or established through personal laboratory experience, which decrease animal stress or discomfort. We intend to publish a collection of refinement methods for distribution to the scientific community. Our goal is two-fold: 1) to expose scientists to refinement methods, and 2) to provide a mechanism to encourage scientists who are already interested in alternatives to use identified refinement methods. All contributors will be acknowledged if their data/methods are included in the resulting publication.

Please review the following questions to determine if your work can be recognized as a refinement alternative. If you are able to answer yes to any of these questions, your experience in the laboratory most likely involved a refinement method suitable for inclusion in our study.

Have you developed, or determined through experience, a technique or procedure (e.g., surgical) that decreases animal stress or discomfort?
Have you developed, or determined through experience, a handling or housing method that decreases animal stress or discomfort?
Have you used, or determined through experience, drugs (e.g., less irritating upon infusion/injection) that decrease animal stress or discomfort?

Please provide a summary of the refinement alternative that you have found to decrease animal discomfort or distress based on your personal experience with laboratory animals. In addition, please discuss the perceived impact of your refinement methods on the welfare of laboratory animals. We ask that you also include answers to the following questions in your report:

How do you determine that an animal is in pain ?
How do you determine that an animal is in distress (non-pain induced)?
Which of the animal handling or experimental procedures that you routinely use cause you most concern regarding their potential for causing animal pain or distress? (If you would prefer that your answer to this question be treated anonymously in the report, please indicate.)

Send your summary to REFINE, Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, 111 Market Place, Suite 840, Baltimore, MD 21202-6709. Tel: (410) 223-1693, Fax: (410) 223-1603, or e-mail: caat@phnet.jhu.edu
subject: Refine

Please be sure to include your telephone/fax number or e-mail address so that we may contact you if we need further information.

This article appeared in the Animal Welfare Information Center Newsletter, Volume 6, Number 1, Spring 1995

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