The motivation of group-housed laboratory mice, Mus musculus, for additional space
The limited amount of space that we provide for research animals can adversely influence the validity of behavioural data and animal welfare. Consumer demand studies have examined the strength of motivation that animals have for additional space; however, one problem of these studies is that the animals tested were generally of a gregarious species, but […]
Sound levels in rooms housing laboratory animals: An uncontrolled daily variable
High sound levels are known to have adverse effects on the behaviour and physiology of laboratory animals, yet their acoustic environment is rarely monitored. In particular, high-frequency sounds that are above the limit of human hearing, but are well within the limits of many laboratory species (i.e., ultrasounds), are usually ignored. In this study, the […]
The UFAW handbook on the care and management of laboratory animals
Laboratory animal husbandry: ethology, welfare, and experimental variables
Preference tests with rodents to assess housing conditions
Guidelines have been formulated by the European Community (EC 1986) to cover housing conditions for laboratory animals. These guidelines are based essentially on common practice of housing laboratory animals and on limited data concerning relations between housing conditions and either animal growth or development of pathologies. Further information on this subject is required to optimize […]
Painful dilemmas: the ethics of animal-based pain research
While it has the potential to deliver important human benefits, animal-based pain research raises ethical questions, because it involves inducing pain in sentient beings. Ethical decision-making, connected with this variety of research, requires informed harm-benefit analysis, and the aim of this paper is to provide information for such an analysis. We present an overview of […]
Grooming and yawning trace adjustment to unfamiliar environments in laboratory Sprague-Dawley rats ( Rattus norvegicus)
The authors studied grooming and yawning caused by mild stress in laboratory Sprague-Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus). Two groups received 3 and 6 sequences of 5 foot shocks at random intervals (RI) and fixed intervals (FI), respectively. A 3rd group was not shocked (NS). The groups were exposed for 60 min twice. Grooming did not differ […]
Perception of laboratory staff regarding animal welfare issues
Laboratory staff controls a series of environmental parameters affecting animals used in research. Therefore, staff attitudes influence both animal welfare (AW) and research results. This study aimed to verify the knowledge and perception of staff members on AW. Data were collected through a 22 open-question and 23 multiple-choice question online survey. 62 respondents from Brazilian […]
Developing a Collaborative Agenda for Humanities and Social Scientific Research on Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare
Improving laboratory animal science and welfare requires both new scientific research and insights from research in the humanities and social sciences. Whilst scientific research provides evidence to replace, reduce and refine procedures involving laboratory animals (the ‘3Rs’), work in the humanities and social sciences can help understand the social, economic and cultural processes that enhance […]