Cumulative suffering

Multiple procedures

Although a judgement of the severity of a procedure may simply look at the most painful or distressing technique to be applied to the animal, this ignores the overall effect of all of the techniques involved in a research procedure.

Repeated intraperitoneal injections, for example, may result in a greater severity than the ‘mild’ classification that might be applied to a single injection of an appropriate volume of a non-irritant material.