Fiderer Delia, Thoene-Reineke Christa, Wiegard Mechthild
Institute of Animal Welfare, Animal Behavior and Laboratory Animal Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Koenigsweg 67, 14163 Berlin, Germany.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Sep 30;14(19):2819. doi: 10.3390/ani14192819.
Pigs (and minipigs) are often restrained with a maxillary sling for blood collection. They mainly produce strong vocalisations and show resistance to the procedure, which subjectively appears to be stressful for the animals. The present study investigated whether minipigs can be trained to tolerate aversive stimuli and whether training can reduce stress during blood collection. Blood was taken from 12 Ellegaard minipigs with fixation; thereafter, the animals were trained for 3 weeks using clicker training. Then, blood was taken again, but without fixation. Before and after each blood sample, saliva samples were taken. The cortisol concentration was determined using ELISAs. Serum cortisol was not significantly different before and after training (paired-sample -test, t (9) = 2.052, = 0.07). However, salivary cortisol was significantly lower after training (ANOVA (analysis of variance), -value < 0.001, F-value 6.181). In addition, trained minipigs showed a significantly lower heart rate after blood sampling (paired-sample -test, t (11) = 4.678, = 0.001) as well as significantly lower heart rate variability (t (11) = 3.704, = 0.003) compared to before training. The minipigs could be trained to tolerate aversive stimuli. This contributed to stress reduction when taking blood samples.
猪（和小型猪）在采血时通常使用上颌吊带进行约束。它们主要会发出强烈的叫声并对该操作表现出抗拒，主观上这似乎对动物来说是有压力的。本研究调查了小型猪是否可以被训练来耐受厌恶刺激，以及训练是否可以减轻采血过程中的压力。对12只艾勒高小型猪进行固定采血；此后，使用点击训练法对这些动物进行了3周的训练。然后，再次采血，但不进行固定。在每次采集血样前后，采集唾液样本。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法测定皮质醇浓度。训练前后血清皮质醇无显著差异（配对样本t检验，t(9)=2.052，P=0.07）。然而，训练后唾液皮质醇显著降低（方差分析，P值<0.001，F值6.181）。此外，与训练前相比，训练后的小型猪在采血后心率显著降低（配对样本t检验，t(11)=4.678，P=0.001），心率变异性也显著降低（t(11)=3.704，P=0.003）。小型猪可以被训练来耐受厌恶刺激。这有助于在采血时减轻压力。
