Photo. http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/09/article-1273435692193-06D9DC4A000005DC-391192_304x286.jpg
ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ANGRY AT RESEARCH INTO MOUSE PAIN REACTION
Joel Taylor -
10th May, 2010
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/825272-animal-rights-activists-angry-at-research-into-mouse-pain-reaction
Animal rights campaigners have reacted with anger to new research which studies the reactions of mice when inflicted with pain.
They were shocked by the study, which aimed to show that mice ‘grimace’ when in pain, just like us.
Researchers injected each mouse in either the stomach or paws, with chemicals including acetic acid, mustard oil and capsaicin – the hot ingredient in chillies – and some were mutilated surgically.
Mice exhibit pain in a scale of five distinct ‘pain faces’ – dubbed ‘the mouse grimace scale’, – the Canadian and Dutch scientists found at McGill University in Montreal.
‘These mice were subjected to atrociously painful situations without any pain relief,’
said Dr Ned Buyukmihci, of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
‘This study was not intended to improve the welfare of mice, rather just to find a new way of determining if a mouse is in pain. This institutionalises experiments where pain is caused in mice.’
The scale is listed as: eye squeeze, nose bulge, bulging cheeks, ears drawn back and whiskers standing on end.
Researchers insist it will have benefits for veterinary medicine.
‘The ability to accurately detect pain using facial expression might offer a unique and powerful scientific tool,’ wrote Dr Jeffrey Mogil.
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British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. BUAV
http://www.buav.org/