Trancing

Trancing

After reviewing multiple papers the concussions I have drawn are, Hypnosis , and Tonic immobility are not the same thing as Calming inversion or the Roll used by Rabbit, Breeders , Judges and handlers .

In multiple studies it has been stated that in order to "induce" Tonic immobility or trancing, a rabbit had to either either be Violently slammed and than be restrained on it's back by applying pressure to neck and chest, or flipping completely prostrate and have pressure applied to neck and chest. The common dementor being "pressure applied to Thorax" . more current studies who simply rolled the rabbit in the standard exam position concluded that in the vast majority of cases the rabbits cortisol was much lower then the rabbits examed in the standard upright position. The earlier studies from the 1970's focused on fear response and were specifically trying to induce a fear based state. This honestly tainted any results and opinions surrounding where simply rolling a rabbit was actually damaging to it. as evidenced anecdotally by the millions of rabbits a year who are shown in ARBA sanctioned events where a judge rolling a rabbit on it's back to do a health exam of every rabbit on the table has shown us , it is not the case that rabbits are any more stressed or in any danger. House Rabbit Society, PeTA and AR activists have pushed for years that the act of flipping a rabbit over will kill it or cause it to have a heart attack. I this was the case the death rate at ARBA convention would be extremely high, just this year in 2023, 24,000 rabbits were judged at our 100th convention and zero died from being examined. I would expect if the claims were true , the act of flipping a rabbit on it's back would not be part of the regular judging and exam process.

2021 Effect of tonic immobility induction on selected physiological parameters in Oryctolagus cuniculus f. Domesticus rabbits: 2021

January 2021 Medycyna Weterynaryjna https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350946951_Effect_of_tonic_immobility_induction_on_selected_physiological_parameters_in_Oryctolagus_cuniculus_f_Domesticus_rabbits

" Tonic immobility (TI) is a phenomenon known as thanatosis or apparent death. The phenomenon can be induced in many ways. It occurs, for example, in the presence of a hazard, as a result of coercion through an unnatural body position or as a result of administration of certain medicines. TI is sometimes used in veterinary practice to tame patients. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of tonic immobility induction on selected physiological parameters in Oryctolagus cuniculus f. Domesticus rabbits. The study included 20 healthy rabbits, patients of a veterinary clinic, divided into two groups of 10 individuals. In the study group, TI was induced to conduct a standard clinical trial, while the control group were subjected to a standard clinical trial without TI. Heart rate, respiratory rate, pupil diameter and blood glucose concentration were measured in all animals. The measurements were performed three times: after the patient’s arrival at the clinic, after a detailed clinical examination in a normal or tonic immobility position and 15 minutes after the end of the examination. Additionally, the blood cortisol concentration was measured twice: on arrival at the clinic and at the end of the clinical trial. The results of the experiment show that miniature rabbits feel less stress during tonic immobility testing than rabbits in the standing position, and therefore this phenomenon should be used for taming animals. "

RWAF .actually supports flipping them.

Assuming people read PAST the first few paragraphs from their Facebook post where they cite the McBride notes and a half page blurb from Sally Everett that was found as Appendix 3 in a text book and also was inconclusive. that was also inconclusive, RWAF wrote in reference to the Medycyna Weterynaryjna research :

.." The new paper is specifically about rabbits in a veterinary clinic setting. It shows that heart and respiratory rates stay the same or increase in rabbits when they are examined on their fronts, but decrease when they are examined on their backs. Pupil size, another measure of stress, increases when examined on their fronts, but not their backs. Blood glucose remained at a very similar level throughout in both groups. Blood cortisol goes up with handling in both groups, but increases less in those on their backs than their fronts. Rabbits entering a vet clinic are, by definition, already very stressed, so the baseline here is somewhat skewed (this is not a criticism of the paper, just an observation), with heart rates and, in particular, respiratory rates, well above those commonly suggested as "normal".

In summary, during TI in this study: • Heart and breathing rate drop • Pupil size decreases • Glucose does not significantly change • Cortisol increases (but less than during examination on their fronts) • There is no suggestion that there is any kind of “natural” pain relief induced by TI. • These are averages, and some rabbits show very different responses to others. Conclusions we can draw from this: • The changes seen during TI are not those of a "fight or flight" response. • Some rabbits respond with decreases in signs, some with increases, suggesting different individual susceptibilities. • We cannot say if a rabbit "likes" being turned on its back. • The decrease in heart and respiratory rate suggest lowered physiological stress but this doesn’t necessarily equal less emotional stress. And the main concern: there is a difference between lying on their back and “true” TI. Different ways to hold and restrain rabbits have different effects and may induce TI or may not. In her social media posts on this, Dr Harcourt-Brown mentions this too, drawing a distinction between TI and trancing. The author describes carefully putting rabbits into a position on their backs, which is how Dr Harcourt-Brown also puts it. The exact nature of the difference needs further exploration, with some suggestions previously that where rabbits have had TI used in the past are more susceptible to it in future, and whether there is an element of "learned helplessness" present in at least some cases. This study was limited to a veterinary clinic setting. As vets, we need to incorporate these results into a contextualized care approach, and consider: • Why we are doing it, for example to facilitate a life-saving diagnostic or therapeutic procedure like obtaining an x-ray. • If the position is appropriate. For example, it is a good position to take a urine sample from the bladder but not for syringe feeding because of aspiration risk. • How are we are lying them on their backs, and that it is in a stable and supported way. • Whether we are inducing a physiologically relaxed response or inducing a state where the rabbit is tense and poising to jump up and run for its life. • If it is appropriate for that rabbit. While the rabbits in this study appear to undergo a relaxation response, not all rabbits will do that. If the technique doesn’t work for an individual rabbit, there could be serious consequences if they jump and twist. • That there is no suggestion that this process has any analgesic benefit at all. The only conclusions we can draw from this study are limited to a veterinary clinic setting and our advice for rabbits in all other settings remains the same. The RWAF aims to give the most up-to-date care advice for rabbits. As they are studied more, there is more evidence, and our advice may therefore change in response.

Richard Saunders (he/him) BSc (Hons) BVSc FRSB CBiol DZooMed (Mammalian) DipECZM(ZHM) MRCVS

Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund Veterinary Advisor"

2014 Dorsal immobility response in rabbits, Appendix note

Author: Sally Everitt From: BSAVA Manual of Rabbit Medicine Item: Appendix 3, pp 320 - 320 DOI: 10.22233/9781910443217.app3 Copyright: © 2014 British Small Animal Veterinary Association Publication Date: February 2014 https://www.bsavalibrary.com/content/chapter/10.22233/9781910443217.app3

While this attempts to define the state which as it even acknowledges may be one of several different states it is overall inconclusive and the wildly parroted claims that the processes of simply flipping a rabbit on it's back creates such an extreme fear response as to CAUSE pain, or CAUSE a heart attack and death are wildly misrepresented.

the entire blurb:

2006 Trancing Rabbits: Relaxed hypnosis or a state of fear?

https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/11361/ McBride, E.A., Day, S., McAdie, Tina M., Meredith, A., Barley, J., Hickman, J. and Lawes, L. (2006) Trancing Rabbits: Relaxed hypnosis or a state of fear? In: Proceedings of the VDWE International Congress on Companion Animal Behavior and Welfare. Flemish Veterinary Association, pp. 135-137. ISBN 90801104411

"Physiological measures included respiration, heart rate, blood pressure and plasma corticosterone levels which were recorded immediately prior to TI induction, upon TI termination and 15 minutes following TI termination. Behavioral measures included latency and duration of TI episodes as well as movement and frequencies of behaviors recorded during ten minute pre- and post-TI observation periods. Six New Zealand White rabbits were used, 2 entire females and 4 entire males. They were divided into two groups of one male and two females. Each rabbit acted as its own control in two TI trials, one trial to record behavioral measures and one for physiological measures." "Blood pressure measures showed considerable variation and no consistent pattern was observed."

1977 Old study: LIMBIC MODULATION OF CONTACT DEFENSIVE IMMOBILITY ("ANIMAL HYPNOSIS")

-Michael Woodruff-

this study that many animal welfare agencies still parrot as valid has been debunked due to it's methodology, and rabbits rolled on their back are done so in a controlled manner for show, grooming and veterinary examination. The rabbits in this study were rapidly slammed there backs in a trough, and them forcibly held down for 15 second with the researcher's hand around their throat. The point of this study was to induce fear in the rabbit to induce the state of tonic immobility. later studies have shown simple rolling a rabbit on it's back actually calms it.

https://www.academia.edu/35547602/LIMBIC_MODULATION_OF_CONTACT_DEFENSIVE_IMMOBILITY_ANIMAL_HYPNOSIS_?source=swp_share

Preoperative

Behavioral Testing Each rabbit was subjected to an immobilization test session prior to implantation of recording electrodes. The rabbit was transported from the colony room to the test room in a large box. The rabbit was taken from the transport box and placed in an upright position in a wooden V-shaped trough as previously described (Woodruff et al., 1975). Immobility was induced 15 sec later by rapidly inverting the rabbit and forcibly re-straining it in the inverted position by pressing the thorax with one hand. After 15 sec had elapsed, the hand was slowly with drawn and a clock started to time the duration of the response. If the rabbit did not become immobile within 15 sec, it was

allowed to right itself and remain in the upright position for an additional 15 sec before another trial commenced. Three consecutive induction trials were given in this manner.

Tonic immobility in rabbits is pretty much stated as fact , but finding any studies that actually prove flipping them over induces that state are hard to come by. it is generally understood as meaning the animal has to be physically incapable of movement, but obviously in real life, rabbits are able to flip themselves back over. that said , the study this was taken from was a single study done in the 70's where 12 rabbits were studied by being put into induced "tonic immobility" ie "trancing". by being SLAMMED into trays on there backs. The process of flipping a rabbit onto it's back .. did not cause it to be tranced.. the action of SLAMMING IT VIOLENTLY into a hard surface and forcibly restraining it buy grabbing it neck did.. knocking the wind out of it and stunning it.. yet THAT is the study that is parroted by HRS.

1975 Old study using same abusive methodology to induce TI state: Cholinergic Modulation of Tonic Immobility in the Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

-Michael Woodruff - 1975, Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology

Cholinergic Modulation of Tonic Immobility in the Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)