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Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses (2023)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Camacho, T., & Hockenhull, J. (2023). Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 268, Article 106077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2023.106077

Lifting mice by the tail is of animal welfare and scientific concern, but rat lifting methods are little researched, potentially differing from mice. Using an online questionnaire we explored different methods for lifting laboratory rats, alongside h... Read More about Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses.

Expert assessment of the impact of ship-strikes on cetacean welfare using the Welfare Assessment Tool for Wild Cetaceans (2023)
Journal Article
Rae, F., Nicol, C., & Simmonds, M. (2023). Expert assessment of the impact of ship-strikes on cetacean welfare using the Welfare Assessment Tool for Wild Cetaceans. Animal Welfare Journal, 32, Article e18. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.7

Human activities are increasingly impacting our oceans and the focus of attention tends to be on their environmental impacts, rather than consequences for animal welfare. Global shipping density has quadrupled since 1992. Unsurprisingly, increased le... Read More about Expert assessment of the impact of ship-strikes on cetacean welfare using the Welfare Assessment Tool for Wild Cetaceans.

Piling behaviour in British layer flocks: Observations and farmers' èxperiences (2022)
Journal Article
Winter, J., Stratmann, A., Toscano, M. J., Cardwell, J. M., & Nicol, C. J. (2022). Piling behaviour in British layer flocks: Observations and farmers' èxperiences. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 253, Article 105686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105686

Smothering of laying hens, defined as death due to suffocation when hens tightly pile together in layer barns, is a well-known problem affecting the British loose-housed layer industry. However, knowledge about mechanisms contributing to piling in Br... Read More about Piling behaviour in British layer flocks: Observations and farmers' èxperiences.

Assessing Animal Welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators (2022)
Journal Article
Paul, E., Browne, W., Mendl, M., Caplen, G., Trevarthen, A., Held, S., & Nicol, C. (2022). Assessing Animal Welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators. Animal Behaviour, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.02.003

To assess the welfare of captive animals, validated measures – so called “welfare indicators” - are required. We used a triangulation approach to investigate the extent to which different measures converged to provide corroborating evidence of welfar... Read More about Assessing Animal Welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators.

A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., & Popat, R. (2021). A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel. Animal Technology and Welfare, 20, 203-210

Mouse shelters can provide mice with security, help them thermoregulate, offer darkness to prevent damage to their eyes and enable climbing and gnawing opportunities. For laboratory mice, there is a vast array of commercially available cage furniture... Read More about A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel.

Handling mice using gloves sprayed with alcohol-based hand sanitiser: acute effects on mouse behaviour (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Lopez Salesansky, N., Wells, D., Whitfield, L., & Chancellor, N. (2021). Handling mice using gloves sprayed with alcohol-based hand sanitiser: acute effects on mouse behaviour. Animal Technology and Welfare, 20, 11-20

Alcohols are commonly used in laboratory animal facilities to disinfect hands, equipment and laboratory environments. The effect on mice is unknown, so we observed male and female C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice during and after handling with nitrile gloves... Read More about Handling mice using gloves sprayed with alcohol-based hand sanitiser: acute effects on mouse behaviour.

Early life exposure to air pollution impacts neuronal and glial cell function leading to impaired neurodevelopment (2021)
Journal Article
Morris, R. H., Counsell, S. J., McGonnell, I. M., & Thornton, C. (in press). Early life exposure to air pollution impacts neuronal and glial cell function leading to impaired neurodevelopment. BioEssays, 2000288. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202000288

The World Health Organisation recently listed air pollution as the most significant threat to human health. Air pollution comprises particulate matter (PM), metals, black carbon and gases such as ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide... Read More about Early life exposure to air pollution impacts neuronal and glial cell function leading to impaired neurodevelopment.

Early CT in dogs following traumatic brain injury has limited value in predicting short‐term prognosis (2020)
Journal Article
Lee, C. Y., Llabres‐Diaz, F., Wyatt, S., & Beltran, E. (2021). Early CT in dogs following traumatic brain injury has limited value in predicting short‐term prognosis. Veterinary Radiology and Ultrasound, 62(2), 181-189. https://doi.org/10.1111/vru.12933

Traumatic brain injury is associated with a high risk of mortality in veterinary patients, however publications describing valid prognostic indicators are currently lacking. The objective of this retrospective observational study was to determine whe... Read More about Early CT in dogs following traumatic brain injury has limited value in predicting short‐term prognosis.

Does Providing Hiding Spaces for Zebrafish in Large Groups Reduce Aggressive Behaviour? (2020)
Journal Article
Czeszyk, A., Burn, C., & Russell, C. (in press). Does Providing Hiding Spaces for Zebrafish in Large Groups Reduce Aggressive Behaviour?. The Journal of Young Investigators, 38(5), 43-56. https://doi.org/10.22186/jyi.38.5.43-56

There are extensive studies investigating the effects of enrichment on the welfare and behaviour of commonly used laboratory animals. However, when it comes to zebrafish, Danio rerio, there is limited knowledge available regarding what type of enrich... Read More about Does Providing Hiding Spaces for Zebrafish in Large Groups Reduce Aggressive Behaviour?.