Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals: An Update of the 1992 ILAR Report

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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. This new book from the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) at the National Research Council, Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals, focuses on the stress and distress which is experienced by animals when used in laboratory research. This book aims to educate laboratory animal veterinarians; students, researchers, and investigators; animal care staff, as well as animal welfare officers on the current scientific and ethical issues associated with stress and distress in laboratory animals. It evaluates pertinent scientific literature to generate practical and pragmatic guidelines. Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals focuses specifically on the scientific understanding of the causes and the functions of stress and distress, the transformation of stress to distress, and the identification of principles for the recognition and alleviation of distress. This book discusses the role of humane endpoints in situations of distress and principles for the minimization of distress in laboratory animals. It also identifies areas in which further scientific investigation is needed to improve laboratory animal welfare in order to adhere to scientific and ethical principles that promote humane care and practice.

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View the Lab Animal Welfare: Pain and Distress Set

Publication information

136 pages · 6 x 9 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-10817-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-10818-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/11931

Suggested citation

National Research Council. 2008. Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Peter A. Ward

Peter A. Ward, MD, IOM, is Professor Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Michigan. He was nominated as Chair because of his experience in laboratory animal welfare issues and his past membership and chairmanship of ILAR Council. He also served as Chair on the ILAR Committee to Update Science, Medicine, and Animals, as well as chair of the ILAR Committee on Methods for Producing Monoclonal Antibodies. He has an extensive background in immunopathology, inflammation, and mechanisms of antibody formation.

Robert J. Blanchard

Robert J. Blanchard, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii. He is nominated as a member because of his long experience managing animals in environments that model chronic social stress, fear, aggression, and defense. His research is focused on pharmacological and neural control of natural behavior, animal models of emotion, and ethoexperimental analysis of aggression and defense. He is a past president of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society and the International Society for Research on Aggression. Dr. Blanchard has also served on the editorial boards for Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, Journal of Comparative Psychology and Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior.

Valerie Bolivar

Valerie Bolivar, PhD, is Principal Investigator at the Genomics Institute, Wadsworth Center at the New York State Department of Health. She was nominated as a member because of her research on the behavioral differences in rodents associated with different genetic backgrounds and disease states. She has previously served as a member of the research ethics committee at St. Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Marilyn J. Brown

Marilyn J. Brown, DVM, is Executive Director of Animal Welfare and Training at Charles River Laboratories. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. She was nominated as a member because of her experience dealing with issues pertaining to animal welfare, as well as serving on a number of NRC committees, including the ILAR’s Committee to Revise the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (1996). She also served as a reviewer for the 1992 ILAR report “Recognition and Alleviation of Pain and Distress in Laboratory Animals.” Dr. Brown has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including be awarded the title of De Facto Diplomate for the European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.

Fon Chang

Fon Chang, DVM, is the Senior Staff Veterinarian at AstraZenect R&D Boston where you oversee the day-to-day operations of the animal facility. He completed residencies in Laboratory Animal Medicine and in Animal Behavior at UC-Davis. He was nominated as a member for his experience on animal welfare and behavior issues, including behavioral management of research animals and behavioral phenotyping of genetically engineered mice. Dr. Chang's professional affiliations include the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, the American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners, and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

James P. Herman

James P. Herman, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Laboratory of Stress Neurobiology at the University of Cincinnati. He was nominated as a member because of his research in rodents on the structural and functional neurocircuitry involved in the stress response, molecular effects of stress in the brain, and gender differences in the stress response. Dr. Herman was recently a panel member of the American Physiological Society Workshop on Managing Pain and Distress in Experimental Animals, and has been an invited speaker on the topic of distress for the AALAS and PRM&R/ARENA national meetings.

Robert Hubrecht

Robert Hubrecht, PhD, has been with the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) since 1992, where he has served as Deputy Director since 1996 (UFAW is a unique scientific and technical animal welfare organization in the UK, which uses scientific knowledge to improve the welfare of animals kept as pets, in zoos, laboratories, and on farms). He was nominated as a member because of his long career in the fields of animal welfare and ethology. This includes, in addition to a number of academic positions, service as a member of the Animal Procedures Committee (APC). The APC advises the UK Home Secretary on matters relating to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, which regulates the use of animals in research in the UK. He has also served as a chair or member of several subcommittees of the APC, including the Housing and Husbandry Sub-Committee, the Primates Sub-Committee, the Severity Working Group, and the Working Group on the Use of Marmosets. Dr. Hubrecht has published numerous articles on the subject of animal behavior. He was also a recipient of the GlaxoSmithKline Animal Welfare Prize in 2004.

David M. Lawson

David M. Lawson, PhD, is Professor of Physiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit. He was nominated as a member because of his knowledge on laboratory animal physiology and the effect of husbandry and enrichment on physiology. His research focuses on integrative responses of experimental rodents to common experimental manipulations and housing conditions. Dr. Lawson is a member of the American Physiological Society, The Endocrine Society and the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science. During the period 1978-2006, he served for 21 years as member or chair of the University’s institutional animal care and use committee.

Steven F. Maier

Steven F. Maier, PhD, is a University of Colorado Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Center for Neuroscience. He was nominated as a member for his research into maladaptive behaviors, analgesia, and the effect of stress on immune function, and neurochemistry. Dr. Maier co-developed the first animal model of learned helplessness and devised ways to alleviate this type of distress. He has received numerous awards including the Norman Cousins and the Neal Miller Distinguished Lectureships, and is a Fellow of the American Psychologist Association, the American Physiological Association, and APA, APS, and AAAS. He has been on the editorial boards of numerous journals and authored or co-authored over 250 scientific papers and 300 abstracts.

David B. Morton

David Morton, PhD, is professor of Biomedical Science and Ethics at the University of Birmingham in the UK, and a laboratory animal veterinarian. His research focuses on the recognition of adverse states, such as distress in animals, their assessment and alleviation, and their practical use in animal research such as in the development of humane endpoints, and their impact on science and the animals. He is a member of the European Food Standards Authorities Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare, the UK’s Farm Animal Welfare Council, sits on various human and animal ethics committees and has received several national and international awards for his work on the Three Rs. He has published more than 200 papers and chapters, and recently chaired European committees on primate and rabbit welfare, and various aspects of animal research for the revision of the EU Directive.

Steven M. Niemi

Steven M. Niemi, DVM, is Director of the Center for Comparative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Niemi is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and served on its Board of Directors. He is an Ad hoc Consultant and Specialist with AAALAC, International. He is a past President of the Scientists Center for Animal Welfare and a member of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, American Veterinary Medical Association and Veterinary Cancer Society. Dr. Niemi was nominated because of his experience in refinement and reduction in animal testing, alternatives to animal experimentation, and use of non-traditional laboratory animals, as well as his unique perspectives from his professional experience with both academic and industrial research institutions.

Melinda A. Novak

Melinda Novak, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Her research examines the psychopathology of monkeys with an emphasis on self-injurious behavior, and the effects of early experience on cognitive and social development in rhesus monkeys. She has previously served as President of the American Society of Primatologists, as well as chair or member of a number of committees, including the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Advisory Panel on the Psychological Well-being of Captive Primates, the ILAR Committee on Psychological Well-being of Captive Primates, and the Board of Trustees of AAALAC International.

Stephen L. Zawistowski

Stephen L. Zawistowski, PhD, is Senior Vice President and Science Advisor of The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He has worked extensively in animal behavior and welfare. He is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and is the Chairman of the Animal Behavior Society's Board of Professional Certification and is a Certified Technical Animal Rescue Specialist as well. He has been a member of several animal protectionist organizations and committees, including the Scientific Advisory Panel for the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), and the Scientific Advisory Committees for Humane Farm Animal Care, and the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy. He is a founding co-editor of the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science and served on the BANR/ILAR committee that reviewed the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park.

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Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals: An Update of the 1992 ILAR Report

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