Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** surgical castration of male piglets…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** surgical castration of male piglets is performed to prevent off-odor pork and aggressive behaviors. The procedure is often performed without analgesics or anesthetics in part due to the lack of products approved in the united states with an indication for the control of pain in swine. There is a lack of consistent data related to the efficacy of pain control products primarily due to the lack of uniform testing methods and protocols. Lack of consistent protocols create difficulty for pharmaceutical companies to submit pain control label claims for approval, veterinarians to confidently prescribe products for extra-label use, researchers to reliably assess pain and potential mitigation strategies, and PIG farmers to make future business decisions regarding animal welfare. The primary goal of this project is to facilitate consistency and rigor through the development of a research protocol utilizing validated endpoints that are well-defined and reliably measure pain in piglets. The results will be used to identify valid and reliable endpoints that may be used in future studies by stakeholders to evaluate the efficacy of drugs for the control of pain associated with piglet castration. The long-term goal is to improve PIG welfare on-farm by effectively controlling pain associated with on-farm surgical procedures, such as castration, in a manner that is safe for the animal and the consumer and is compliant with US regulation.