Recognition and Assessment

Provides a definition of pain as well as information on how pain is produced, how pain is assessed, and how pain is relieved.

The use of animals in research adheres to scientific and ethical principles that promote humane care and practice. Scientific advances in our understanding of animal physiology and behavior often require theories to be revised and standards of practice to be updated to improve laboratory animal welfare.

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:

• Mouse
• Rabbit
• Rat

A review of veterinary clinical pain studies in dogs and application of computer-assisted behavioral analysis.

The National Academies have developed a free online resource to help those who care for and use laboratory animals, farm animals, and pets to prevent, recognize, and alleviate pain in different types of animals, from non-human primates to fish. The web site is related to a 2009 report on the Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Laboratory Animals.

General comments regarding the current status of veterinary guidelines regarding pain in farm animals.

This is general information regarding signs, causes, and treatment of pain in animals, such as dogs, cats, farm animals, and horses. There is a video that explains how animals experience pain. This site is not a substitute for communication between an animal owner and their veterinarian.

This online training site provides an introduction to recognizing post-operative pain in animals. Videos, images, and text are included.

A review article on methods of clinical pain assessment in animals, including a discussion of pain alleviation techniques.

This paper refutes claims that feeling pain is dependent on brain size and complexity. Instead, it suggests that a reasonable criteria for assessing pain-induced suffering is whether or not the animal actively seek pain relief.