Meier Jennifer, Theby Viviane, Gygax Lorenz, Hillman Edna, Fischer-Tenhagen Carola
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), Berlin, Germany.
Tierakademie Scheuerhof; Wittlich, Germany.
Anim Welf. 2023 Nov 21;32:e76. doi: 10.1017/awf.2023.94. eCollection 2023.
Experimental procedures involving farm animals are often associated with stress due to restraining. Stress can be reduced through use of positive reinforcement training, which then serves as refinement according to the 3Rs principles. Trainer skills, however, may influence the feasibility and success of animal training. The potential influence of trainer skills as well as the education of animal trainers are rarely described in literature but are necessary information for the implementation of positive reinforcement training as a refinement measure. To investigate the effect of educational programmes on animal trainers, we compared the training success of two groups of participants in training goats to elicit a behaviour that would allow simulated venipuncture. One group was educated in a two-day workshop while the other was provided with specific literature for self-instructed learning. Training success was evaluated using an assessment protocol developed for this study. A greater training success in the WORKSHOP GROUP, reflected by objective and subjective measures, was clearly supported statistically. In addition, 73 versus only 13% of the participants of the WORKSHOP GROUP and the self-instructed BOOK GROUP, respectively, stated that they could completely implement the knowledge gained in the course of this study. Our results indicate that more intensively educated trainers can train animals more successfully. In conclusion, if animal training is implemented as refinement, animal caretakers should receive instruction for positive reinforcement training.
涉及农场动物的实验程序往往因限制而与压力相关。通过使用正向强化训练可以减轻压力，根据3R原则，这也是一种优化措施。然而，训练师的技能可能会影响动物训练的可行性和成功率。训练师技能的潜在影响以及动物训练师的培训情况在文献中很少被描述，但对于将正向强化训练作为一种优化措施的实施来说是必要信息。为了研究教育项目对动物训练师的影响，我们比较了两组训练山羊以引发一种能模拟静脉穿刺行为的参与者的训练成功率。一组参加了为期两天的工作坊培训，另一组则获得了特定文献用于自学。使用为本研究制定的评估方案来评估训练成功率。从客观和主观指标来看，工作坊组的训练成功率更高，这在统计学上得到了明确支持。此外，工作坊组分别有73%的参与者表示他们能够完全运用在本研究过程中获得的知识，而自学文献组只有13%。我们的结果表明，接受更深入教育的训练师能够更成功地训练动物。总之，如果将动物训练作为一种优化措施来实施，动物饲养员应该接受正向强化训练的指导。
