American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners Position Statement: Handling and Physical Restraint of Research Animals

Physical restraint of animals may be necessary for experimental, husbandry, or veterinary medical purposes, or to ensure personnel safety.There should be veterinary consultation for any proposed restraint that is more than momentary.As restraint may induce physiologic and behavioral changes, the method of restraint should be chosen to minimize distress to the animal and the duration of restraint used should be the minimum needed to achieve scientific or clinical objectives.Any restraint device should be designed to ensure the safety of the animal and it should be appropriately maintained.Alternatives to physical restraint such as positive reinforcement or other benign operant conditioning/training for a procedure, or chemical restraint where human or animal safety is a concern, should be considered.