Report on first certificate course on applied physiology of pain, analgesia, anesthesia, and euthanasia for laboratory animals held in Sri Lanka

Similar to human beings, pain is an unpleasant sensation experienced by animals as well. There is no exception when the animals are subjected to experimental procedures. Our duty as researchers/scientists is to prevent or minimize the pain in animals so as to lessen their suffering and distress during experimental procedures. The basics of the physiology of pain and pain perception, analgesia, anesthesia, and euthanasia of laboratory animals were included to complete the program, before the practical part was attempted and before advanced topics, such as comparison of anesthetic combinations, were discussed. Therefore, this course was organized in Sri Lanka for the first time in collaboration with the Comparative Biology Centre of Newcastle University, UK. During this course, we were able to demonstrate how an anesthesia machine could be used in laboratory animal anesthesia for the first time in the country. None of the animal houses in the country were equipped with an anesthesia machine at the time of conducting the course.