Methods for general assessment of the welfare of laboratory rats

The paper summarises behavioural and physiological methods which can be use d in studies attempting to draw general conclusions about the welfare of ra ts used in research. Methods such as the open field test, the preference te st. home cage observations, hormone assays and the monitoring of growth rat e and food intake are described. Their applicability is discussed. Also eva luation schemes for on-site assessment of welfare in rats in specific exper iments are presented. It is recommended that welfare assessment should be b ased upon a combination of physiological and behavioural observations.