The Welfare of Laboratory Animals [electronic resource] / edited by Eila Kaliste.

General Principles for Maintenance and Use of Laboratory Animals -- Animal welfare - an introduction -- Research, animals and welfare. Regulations, alternatives and guidelines -- Infections in laboratory animals: Importance and control -- Housing, care and environmental factors -- Nutrition and animal welfare -- Experimental procedures: General principles and recommendations -- The Welfare of Different Species -- The welfare of laboratory mice -- The welfare of laboratory rats -- The welfare of laboratory guinea pigs -- The welfare of laboratory rabbits -- The welfare of laboratory dogs -- The welfare of pigs and minipigs -- The welfare of non-human primates -- Animal welfare issues under laboratory constraints, an ethological perspective: rodents and marmosets.

There is literature dealing with the welfare of animals in general, as well as literature dealing with the maintenance and use of laboratory animals. This book brings together these two topics, focusing to the general and species-specific needs of laboratory animals in the light of their welfare. The book provides material for researchers, lecturers, students and technical staff working with laboratory animals. The authors of this book are leading European scientists in laboratory animal science. The book has two main parts: part one focuses on the general principles of laboratory animal maintenance and experimental use, as well as factors which have to be taken into account when good research is done with animals. The second part is species specific, concentrating on the species most used as laboratory animals. This part gives a comprehensive description of the welfare questions considered to be important for each species under laboratory conditions.