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Rats will ‘rescue’ trapped robot rats, study finds
The robots were then trapped in different enclosures and rats had the opportunity to open the door to one or both enclosures, freeing the robots.
‘Helpful’ robots were more likely to be released from enclosure 

New research suggests rats can form social connections with robots and will even ‘rescue’ them if they become trapped.

Scientists introduced rats to two rat-sized robots, one of which was ‘helpful’ and engaged in rodent-like social behaviour, including following, mirroring, exploring and playing with toys. The other robot was mobile but displayed only minimal behaviours, such as moving backwards and forwards and side to side.

Each rat was trapped in an enclosure and released by the helpful robot three times, while the other robot performed random movements in the arena.

The robots were then trapped in different enclosures and rats had the opportunity to open the door to one or both enclosures, freeing the robots.

Findings published in Animal Behaviour and Cognition show that rats rescued at least one robot 76 per cent of the time. And they displayed a significant preference for rescuing the helpful robot, over the unhelpful robot.

Robots are increasingly used to monitor or participate in social interactions with animals in their own environment. However, it was not clear whether animals would form positive social connections with these robots.

This is the first study to suggest rats show pro-social behaviour towards artificial entities. 

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Vets to run marathon for World Animal Protection

News Story 1
 Two recently graduated veterinary surgeons will be running the London Marathon in April to raise money for the charity World Animal Protection.

Alex Bartlett and Maeve O'Neill plan to run the race together if they are given the same start times.

Dr O'Neill said: "You're always limited in what you can do to help animals, so it is nice to raise money for a charity that helps animals around the world."

Dr Bartlett added: "I have never run a marathon before and am excited to run my first one for such a good cause!"

Both Dr Bartlett and Dr O'Neill have fundraising pages online. 

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News Shorts
BSAVA releases new Guide to Procedures

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has published a new edition of its Guide to Procedures for Small Animal Practice.

It has added four new procedures; cystostomy tube placement, endotracheal intubation, point-of-care ultrasound and wet-to-dry dressings.

BSAVA says that it is an essential step-by-step guide to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed in practice. The textbook includes new images and illustrations, as well as high-definition videos for use prior to procedures.

Nick Bexfield and Julia Riggs, editors of the new edition, said: "We have built upon the success of the previous editions by responding to the feedback received from the BSAVA readership, and hope this new guide helps to further increase the confidence and accuracy with which these procedures are performed."

Print copies are available in the BSAVA store, with a digital version in the BSAVA library.