The minimal anaesthesia model : development and refinement of the concept and subsequent practical applications : a collection of papers and a monograph presented in application for the degree of Doctor of Science at Massey University, Manawatu

Abstract

The research presented in this thesis represents both my development of the minimal anaesthesia model and its application in a number of theoretical and applied areas of animal welfare science. The use of this methodology, especially when combined with other techniques such as behavioural analysis, has proven to be a very powerful way to investigate the perception of noxious stimuli. In particular it enables clear links between physical responses and the underlying affective state of the animal to be made. These links have both expanded our understanding of the development and mechanisms of pain perception in the central nervous system of mammals and also enabled the extent to which animal husbandry procedures such as castration, tail docking and killing are painful to be measured. These latter applied studies have been used as the basis for significant changes to the ways in which painful procedures are carried out. They have contributed to new ways of providing pain relief in a variety of contexts and to changing legislation to ensure that pain relief is used in practice.