The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic

Burn, Charlotte; Mazlan, Nur-Hidayu; Chancellor, Natalie; Wells, Dominic

Abstract

Identification marking mice commonly involves ear-punching with or without anaesthetic, or tail-marking with ink. To identify which is most humane, we marked male BALB/c mice using ear-punching (EP), ear-punching with anaesthetic EMLATM cream (EP+A), or permanent marker pen (MP). We compared marked mice, their unmarked cagemates, and control mice (n=12-13/group) for 5 weeks, reapplying MP weekly. Treatment-blind observations following marking showed that EP and EP+A mice were allogroomed (P

Citation

Burn, C., Mazlan, N.-H., Chancellor, N., & Wells, D. (2021). The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic. Animals, 11, Article 1664. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061664

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jun 3, 2021
• Publication Date: Jun 3, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 18, 2021
• Journal: Animals
• Print ISSN: 2076-2615
• Electronic ISSN: 2076-2615
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Article Number: 1664
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061664
• Keywords: Animal welfare, Mice, Animal behaviour
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1443364
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061664