Animal Welfare Assessment | Animal Welfare Information Center | NAL

Assessing the Health and Welfare of Laboratory Animals

Newcastle University.

Includes free online tutorials:

National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).

This resource provides information about identifying welfare indicators, assessing and reporting actual severity, effective record keeping and review, and staff training.

Grimace Scales

National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).

Changes in facial expression provide a reliable and rapid means of assessing pain in animals. NC3Rs provides training manuals, lists of references, and posters of grimace scales developed for the laboratory:

The Sheep Grimace Scale as an Indicator of Post-Operative Distress and Pain in Laboratory Sheep

PLOS Journal.

A Sheep Grimace Scale (SGS) was herein established by observing and interpreting sheep facial expressions as a consequence of pain and distress following unilateral tibia osteotomy.

Macaques: Welfare Assessment

National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).

"A comprehensive welfare assessment scheme will include multiple measurements including behavioral indicators, physiological indicators and health indicators such as clinical signs"