Refinement Database

Owing to their naturally aggressive behaviour, male mice are often housed individually in toxicity studies. However, several publications advocate group-housing of mice to enable normal social behaviour and interactions between the animals. This refinement project...

Primates are notable for having a rich and detailed understanding of their social environment and there has been great interest in the evolution and function of social knowledge in primates. Indeed, primates have been shown...

This is the third volume of discussions that took place on the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF). This forum is dedicated to the exchange of personal experiences of refining the conditions under which...

The EU Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes specifically states: Animals, except those which are naturally solitary, shall be socially housed in stable groups of compatible individuals. Even in cases where...

Individual housing of social species is a common phenomenon in laboratory animal facilities. Single housing, however, is known to inflict social deprivation with a number of detrimental consequences. Aiming to improve housing conditions of single...

Despite growing interest in promoting positive welfare, rather than just alleviating poor welfare, potential measures of good welfare, and means to provide it, have remained elusive. In humans social support improves stress-coping abilities, health, and...

Since opening in 2008, a consistent observation has been that the dogs are significantly quieter and easier to handle in their new surroundings in comparison to the old facility. This may be due to specific...

Lean management-based visual tools have been used to improve the quality of animal care associated with a complex research study involving immune-compromised cynomolgus monkeys (M. fascicularis) in various postsurgical recovery states. In order to effectively...

There is a general consensus among those studying the welfare of captive primates that social housing is the most effective means for promoting psychological well-being. It is well established that socially-housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)...

Animal models of early-life stress and variation in social experience across the lifespan have contributed significantly to our understanding of the environmental regulation of the developing brain. Plasticity in neurobiological pathways regulating stress responsivity, cognition...

Providing young animals the opportunity to engage in more complex social interactions is hypothesized to improve their capacity to cope with changing environments. To test the effects of the early social environment on the behavioral...

This study compared the effect of individual and pair housing and age at pair housing on the social behavior of young dairy calves. Twenty-seven pairs of calves were reared from birth until 6 wk either...

Humans in a negative emotional state are more likely to judge ambiguous stimuli as negative. In recent years, similar judgement biases have been found in some non-human animals that were exposed to long-term or short-term...

In captive research environments for nonhuman primates (NHP), social housing strategies are often in conflict with protocols designed to minimize disease transmission. This is particularly true in breeding colonies, and is especially relevant when attempting...

This book focuses primarily on human kindness and compassion rather than on human cruelty, callousness, indifference, and egocentric endeavors. It is common knowledge that many lay people and professional researchers treat animals in their charge...

Animal care for nonhuman primates (NHPs) in biomedical facilities has undergone major changes in the past few decades. Today, most primate facilities have dedicated and highly trained animal care technicians who go to great efforts...

The use of dogs in research has been under increasing public scrutiny and criticism over the past several years, and our institution has been no exception. Of particular concern is the use of Class B...

Environmental enrichment is a key component of rodent animal welfare since it influences the animal’s overall well-being, provides opportunities for activity, and encourages rodent appropriate behaviors. Many aspects of rodent enrichment have received a significant...

A colony of mice (base strain C57Bl6) was transferred to Oregon State University. Fighting was observed in six cages of males (2 to 5 mice per cage) at cage change, but not during daily checks...

Comprehensive enrichment programs for dogs, while not required by regulations, are becoming more common in research facilities. Many institutions are providing chewable enrichment devices and pair or group housing for their canine colonies. Human interaction...

The discussion was started by the following questions: "Is the squeeze-back mechanism more or less stressful than the pole and collar system for removing a macaque from his cage for an IM (intramuscular) injection?" and...

We conclude that handling experimental animals more often than only at the time their cage is changes is beneficial.

At Huntingdon Life Sciences, we have developed a program to meet the exercise and socialization needs of our canines. Our program, entitled "Zen Pen" is a 30-minute weekly play session with at least two technicians...

We investigated whether housing two female mice in a cage, separated by a grid partition ('living apart together') counters the adverse effects of individual housing on postoperative recovery. Results indicated that socially housed mice appear...

In this article, recent publications are examined to determine the potential impact of new scientific evidence on current practices for the housing and care of laboratory rodents. The discussion points out recent advances in technology...