ABSTRACT
Proper administration of the test item is one of the basic practical prerequisites for any animal study aiming at the assessment of the safety as well as ef¢cacy of chemical or biological compounds. The importance of this part of the study design and conduct is easy to imagine if one realizes that substance administration is key to the outcome of such studies, affecting virtually any parameter as de¢ned by the study protocol. In addition, in most cases dose administration is a daily procedure for all animals during the entire length of the study (except pre-dose and recovery periods), and therefore, this procedure per se has a huge impact on the animal’s well-being. According to Morton et al. (2001), ‘when administering a substance to an animal by any route the aim should be to achieve ‘best practice,’ since mistakes at any stage can cause avoidable suffering and/or waste of animals’ lives. Best practice depends on minimizing or avoiding adverse effects, minimizing the number of animals used, and maximizing the quality and applicability of results.’ It cannot be emphasized enough that ‘best practice’ means ¢rst and foremost well-trained staff. In this chapter,
training of animals will be mentioned on several occasions to reduce stress of handling and dosing procedures. But before starting the training of animals it should be ensured that staff has been trained and is familiar with the peculiarities of minipigs. This can be done by attending speci¢c courses. In addition, a DVD on handling and dosing of Göttingen minipigs exists (cf. https://www.minipigs.dk/).
