Share thisDigital camera systems help maintain regular observation of animals while minimising disturbance.
Welfare is rightly a much used term in the world of laboratory animals and naturally our first thoughts always turn to the welfare of the animals in our charge. On the occasions that we contemplate the welfare of the people working in the laboratory animal facility it is all too often allied with procedures which are either in conflict with good animal welfare or the much maligned safety assessments which can in practice be more hindrance than help.
This article reviews the use of various digital camera systems including the Mobile Animal Cage Surveillance (MACS) system (manufactured by Optilia InstrumentsAB, Sweden and distributed by The Cube Ltd, UK). These systems have been designed specifically for making observations of animals in their home cages with minimal disturbance and maximum clarity.
Increasing numbers of animals are being housed in barrier units designed to maintain their high health status by minimising their contact with the outside world. The requirement to maintain an exclusion barrier along with increasingly stringent procedures enforced in many facilities (e.g. the common 48 hour clearance rule) hinders the ease with which key welfare and procedural personnel such as veterinary, supervisory, and study managers can inspect animals in situ.
This is at odds with the legal and procedural demands that animals are observed regularly and closely for welfare and scientific reasons. In addition, close inspection may often only be achievable by removing the cage from the rack and transferring it to a work station before opening the cage and disturbing the occupants to ensure all is well.