Guidelines for the recognition and assessment of pain in animals

BOOK REVIEWS Guidelines for the Recognition and Assessment of Pain in Animals

Association of Veterinary Teachers and Research Workers Potters Bar : Universities Federation for Animal Welfare . 23 pp . £5 .00 "Phis book is a `must' for all those conducting or supervising work involving the use of experimental animals . The authors are to be congratulated in bringing a scientific evaluation into a hitherto highly subjective and emotive subject . An initial version of these guidelines was published in 1986 and the present ones have been revised in the chapter dealing with specific signs of pain . This now includes signs in primates, horses, cattle, sheep and goats, pigs, dogs, cats, rabbits, laboratory rodents, birds, reptiles and fish . Whilst it is acknowledged that fundamental research in the physiology of pain has made great strides, it is stressed that `the overall assessment of welfare in individual cases can only be treated as a value judgement based on the experience of those presented with the task' . The authors go on to say that if doubt exists, the welfare of the animal must be considered paramount and further information and advice sought . The members of the Working Party stress that the guidelines are a start in a process which will require further revisions and additions as experience is gained in their use . A welcome start has been made with the publication of these guidelines . W . J . B . MOR(, \x

Genetics of the Dog

Malcolm B . Willis London : Victor Gollancz . 1989. 417 pp . £37 .50 Dr Willis has for many years been the leading canine geneticist in Britain . He regularly addresses meetings of veterinary surgeons and dog-breeders in a style which is all his own . Opinionated and outspoken, he never suffers fools gladly, but controversial though he is, his audiences come back for more . Genetics of the Dog has been promised for many years and now that it is at last available it promises to be every bit as good as his many admirers would have expected .

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Described on the jacket as a work of scholarship, this book is a must for every serious dog-breeder and equally so for the practising veterinary surgeon . If breeders and breed clubs are today starting to tackle the major problems of inherited defects in dogs, the credit for that stimulus to face reality must be given to the author . Dr Willis, in his introduction, makes the point that the secret of all effective breeding programmes is the maintenance of thorough and proper records- `too often breeders work from fallible memory and from isolated incidents they draw generalisations which are too frequently erroneous', a sentiment which will find an echo in the memories of most small animal practitioners . He warns that his book will not be easy and will require effort on the part of the reader ; having followed the text from cover to cover, I can only say `Amen' to that . But those who decide to pay the not inconsiderable price and add this volume to their library will not find cause to regret the decision . In that same introduction, the author makes the valid point that animal breeding principles receive only minimal emphasis in most veterinary courses . He stresses that he is not himself a veterinary graduate and then time and again demonstrates a very wide and firm grasp of matters veterinary. As if to prove the point about the book not being easy, Dr Willis, in his early dissertation on basic genetic principles covers the colour inheritance in Dobermanns and Table 3 on page 11 should convince his readers that they are not in for an easy ride! The book is full of fact, fact that frequently serves to debunk some of the precious theories of `old wives' tale' breeding . The evidence that bitches tend to produce fewer offspring after the third litter, and that the number of puppies actually reared in a litter is often very much smaller than optimistic breeders would have us believe, comes as no surprise . But it is no less welcome to those of us who have over the years had to temper the enthusiasm of breeder clients after they have read the type of article appearing in breedclub newsletters . Genetics of the Dog covers systems of breeding as well as genetics of canine defects . Perhaps the most important and impressive side of the book lies in the truly comprehensive nature of the list of references, which totals in excess of one thousand . Dr Willis