Module 05 - Research Issues

Applying Basic Animal Behaviour in Your Research Project

An animal learns from experience what will be happening to it when it is handled. Animals very quickly learn handling routines and procedures. Assuming the handling is competently done, not only will an animal's stress level be reduced, it will be much more likely to accept the manipulation being done.

During the conditioning period before an experiment begins, animals should be exposed to the routines that will be part of the study. This is particularly important if the study will involve special restraint, use of devices such as collars or jackets containing emerging catheters (e.g., rats with tethers for brain recordings; sheep in a metabolism crate). Familiarizing the animal to manipulations or restraint BEFORE a project starts is important for both welfare and scientific reasons. 

Rewards for good behaviour are an excellent way to enhance a cooperative attitude in an animal.

Rewards such as "gummi-bears" or Fruit Loops are enjoyed by rats. Other examples are, giving a dog a dog biscuit after blood sampling, giving a cat a treat, giving a non-human primate a special treat. Of course these would need to be acceptable to the research project.

Research Manipulation Factors 

In addition to the many non-experimental variables that must be considered and controlled to ensure that the fewest animals need to be used and that the results are valid, there are the many research or protocol variables that the investigator and all research personnel must consider, and control. For some studies such as the surgical induction of cerebral ischemia (stroke) in a rodent model, there may be many variables to control; duration and depth of anesthesia, body temperature during surgery and during recovery, duration of the application of the ischemia, timing of the analgesia, post-operative care and monitoring, etc. All of these may influence the outcome of the ischemia.

It is recommended that for each specific research procedure a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) be written and observed by everyone involved, to standardise as much as possible each and every animal manipulation.