Introduction
Recognising, preventing and alleviating pain and distress in laboratory animals is a key responsibility of all those involved in their care and use. This workshop is one of two linked workshops. It deals with broader concepts of animal welfare, sources of pain and distress, and the refinement of research procedures. Workshop 2 focuses on assessing and alleviating post-operative pain and distress.
This first workshop will take place in May 2025, featuring live webinars, along with new e-learning modules. It focusses on optimising the welfare of laboratory rodents and rabbits and will discuss both procedure-related and other sources of pain and distress. We aim to provide an overview of animal welfare and the nature of stress and distress, together with the practical application of this knowledge to optimise animal welfare.
Course tutors will be Professor Paul Flecknell and Dr Matt Leach.
Scheduling
- Participants will be required to review e-learning modules prior to attending a series of live sessions.
- Participants may find it helpful to review some of the recommended reading before the live sessions.
Live sessions are scheduled as below
- Day 1 – May 21st – 14:00 to 16:00 (UK time)
- Day 2 – May 22nd – 14:00 to 16:00 (UK time)
Cost
- The registration fee for the workshop is £300 GBP and links to register can be found at the bottom of this page.
- The number of participants will be restricted so that the interactive sessions remain manageable.
- A discount of £100 can be claimed if you register for both Workshop 1 and Workshop 2
- 1-year access to Research Animal Training included
Content
- 4 new e-learning modules.
- 2 live sessions, each of 150-180 minutes including a Q & A session and opportunities for general discussions.
- Additional reading and reference material.
- All e-learning content is available in advance of the workshop, and a suggested timetable for completion will be provided.
- Participants will be able to access all content (after its release date) for a period of 3 months.
- Registration for the workshop also includes access to all of the other training materials on the RAT website.
Interactivity
The e-learning modules will be accessible on www.researchanimaltraining.com, while live sessions will take place on the Zoom video platform (zoom.us). For an engaging interactive experience, we incorporate Mentimeter (mentimeter.com) during the sessions.
While not mandatory, having a smartphone or tablet in addition to a laptop can enhance your experience during the interactive sessions.
Topics Covered
- What is stress, distress, pain and suffering? – An introduction and explanation of these key concepts relevant to assessing animal welfare.
- Why we need to assess animal welfare, and how to do it – An overview of how methods of assessing animal welfare have evolved, and an up-to-date summary of the methods that can be used in a range of different species.
- Severity assessment, using scoresheets, humane endpoints – Why and how we should assess the severity of procedures and how we should approach “cumulative severity” assessment. How should we set humane endpoints, and how can they be best used to limit the negative impact of procedures.
- Reducing and preventing pain, suffering and distress – How we should apply an understanding of animal welfare to minimise pain, suffering and distress, including the use of anaesthesia and sedation, and analgesia.
- Interactive sessions on positive and negative welfare states – The live sessions will build on the e-learning topics to encourage participants to apply all the information given to “Refine” some examples of research techniques. These sessions will also incorporate extensive Q and A sessions.