Report 2023

Non-aversive handling

Non-aversive handling (NAH) is a new way of interacting with laboratory rodents which has been shown to be significantly less stressful than traditional methods. NAH methods avoid use of the tail to capture the animal; instead, a cupped hand (cupping) or a tunnel (tunnel handling) is used to pick up an animal.

The Interpharma member has been sharing experiences, tools and learnings to help drive the implementation of NAH. There are different stages of implementation from early stage theoretical and practical training to the running of pilot studies on different mouse strains and ultimately the implementation of NAH-only policies. The goal is to achieve NAH-only policies for relevant species company-wide.

Project name: Non-aversive handling
Charter articles: 1, 2, 3