Monthly Archives: April 2011

Elizabeth Dodemaide, B.V.Sc., M.A., MACVSc, Associate Director, Laboratory Animal Services, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

The Guide for the Care and Use of  Laboratory Animals (the Guide) is an internationally accepted primary reference on animal care and use, and its use is required in the United States of America by the Public Health Service Policy. It was first published in 1963, and has been revised a number of times since then. The most recent edition was published in January, 2011.

The purpose of the Guide is to assist institutions and investigators in caring for and using animals in ways judged to be scientifically, technically, and humanely appropriate. Recommendations in the Guide are based on scientific principles, published data, expert opinion, and experience with methods and practices shown to be consistent with both high quality research and humane animal care and use. The recommendations are intended to be used as the basis for development of a comprehensive animal care and use program, in the context of applying performance standards to the implementation of the program.

The most recent edition of the Guide has additions and changes that institutions have to incorporate into their animal care and use programs. One addition is a specific section on Environmental Enrichment (p.52).  The 1996 version discussed the use of environmental enrichment devices in determining appropriate cage size, and provision of an environment that encouraged species- specific behaviors. For social species, environmental enrichment was suggested as a method to compensate for the lack of social interactions with conspecifics when animals must be housed alone. Most references listed were for non-human primates (NHPs).

The 2011 Guide expands on the discussion of environmental enrichment, citing many references covering a larger range of species. The Guide says:

“The primary aim of environmental enrichment is to enhance animal well-being by providing animals with sensory and motor stimulation through structures and resources that facilitate the expression of species-specific behaviors and promote psychological well-being through physical exercise, manipulative activities, and cognitive challenges according to species-specific characteristics.” —p. 52-53.

The main points in this section include:

• Examples given of structural additions include perches and visual barriers for NHPs, elevated shelves for cats and rabbits and shelters for guinea pigs. Manipulable resource examples include novel objects, foraging devices for NHPs, manipulable toys for NHPs, dogs, cats and swine, wooden chew sticks for  some rodents and nesting materials for mice.

•   The Guide further states: “Well- conceived enrichment provides animals with choices and a degree of control over their environment, allowing them to better cope with environmental stressors.”—p. 53. A stated caution is that not every item added to the animal’s environment necessarily benefits its well-being, an example being the addition of marbles to a mouse cage where it has been found to be a stressor rather than an enrichment.

• When enrichment items are used, the rotation of the items should be a consideration. However, changing the environment too often may be stressful.

• The IACUC, researchers and veterinarians should regularly review the enrichment programs to ensure they are beneficial to animal well-being and consistent with the goals of animal use. Programs should be updated to reflect new knowledge as needed.

• Animal care personnel should be trained in behavioral biology of the species they work with to appropriately monitor the effects of enrichment.

• Enrichment affects phenotype and may impact experimental outcome (independent variable).

• It is recommended to read and/or conduct research before updating a local Environmental Enrichment Plan.

Application of Guide standards in an animal facility should take into consideration the desired outcome—benefiting or enhancing animal welfare. Engineering standards are prescriptive and provide limited flexibility for implementation. However, they can be useful for establishing a baseline and aid in evaluating compliance.

A more advantageous approach is to apply performance and practice standards. Describe a desired outcome and provide flexibility in achieving this outcome by allowing those responsible for managing the animal care and use program, the researcher, and the IACUC, the discretion to apply methodology to achieve the outcome. The intent of the Guide is to provide flexibility for institutions to develop and modify practices and procedures when new information becomes available and changes in conditions occur. The new Guide places great emphasis on social environment which is intimately tied to enrichment, and must always be considered as part of a comprehensive enrichment program.

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G. Scott Lett, Ph.D., CEO The BioAnalytics Group LLC

Emily G. Patterson-Kane, Ph.D., American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Animal Welfare Division

1. Getting an Ultrasound Detector
Many species such as rodents vocalize in the ultrasound range. For around a hundred dollars, you can acquire a ‘bat detector’ that requires no tuning and has an external speaker. This will allow you to hear a range of previously undetectable chatter, social communication, and distress calls…and get to know your animals better. The same equipment can also be used to locate sources of ultrasound in the laboratory or even adjoining rooms that might be distressing to your animals.

2. Retirement Options
Many animals are humanely euthanized at the end of an experiment, and the perception may be that other options should be explored only when they can be provided to all animals. However, it may be worth exploring having an adoption or retirement procedure for small animals, even when it will represent an exception rather than a rule. This can allow a retirement cage of animals to be kept as demonstration or teaching animals, and staff will be able to adopt some animals as pets. Increased familiarity with the species as a pet can help staff become better at reading and handling animals in the laboratory setting and so should be encouraged when possible.

3. Acquire a Natural History Book
We get used to seeing animals in the laboratory setting, but the full extent of their abilities is most apparent in a natural setting. To bring this awareness into the laboratory, try and find a classic natural history of the animal’s lifestyle in a natural setting for people to browse in the break room or borrow to read at home. Many of the best volumes are now sadly out of print, but might be found online. For example: The Private Life of the Rabbit by R. M. Lockley or Natural History of the House Mouse by R.J. Berry.

4. Make Routine Tasks a Treat
Many animals undergo routine procedures such as weighing, feeding, health checks and cage cleaning. Working a simple treat into this procedure may change it from being a source of anxiety for the animal to anticipation. Over time, the animals come to associate the staff more with treats than trouble, and may become more cooperative and easier to handle. This may be as simple as adding a little seed mix into the bedding of a clean cage, or a food treat to occupy an animal and keep it still on the weigh scale. Food treats should be approved by a veterinarian; where they are not possible, a tickle may be just as good.

5. Keep a Lab Book
Sometimes an animal just seems a little off, lethargic or agitated. Nothing you can put your finger on, or worth taking immediate action over. However, if you keep a tech journal, this allows notes to be made on abnormalities or any events that might explain them. Other facilities may use cage notes, an online noticeboard, or a whiteboard. A permanent record is best, as it can be referred to later to see just how long an animal has had a lingering symptom like poor coat, how often a certain bedding material has contaminants, or how often a piece of equipment in need of replacement has broken down. A record of an event like a power failure or construction noise may help explain a later discovery of abnormal data. These events may not be fully apparent to all hands-on workers or to research and management staff. A lab camera (Polaroid or digital) may also be useful for keeping records of unusual events.

6. Measure Animal Welfare Routinely
Establish some traits of positive and negative behavior for the species under study, and make regular recordings in your lab book. A great idea for some behaviors is to establish a scale (from “min” to “max”), and make recordings over time. Labs might benefit from measuring other parameters—from the concrete (diarrhea) to the complex (agitation or depression). Authors, for example Francoise Wemelsfelder (2007), have developed some species-specific measures that can be used as a great starting point.

7. Establish a Behavior Baseline
If one is going to measure changes in behavior due to environment and experimental treatment, it is best to start measuring before experimental treatment or enrichment initiatives begin, and ideal to try to find records of these traits in the natural environment. Having this baseline can help determine how treatments effect animals, which environments are beneficial, and whether the change in behavior is due to environment or due to experimental treatment. If you can’t observe these traits directly in the animals’ natural environment, at least try to become familiar with their expected behavior from books (see TIP #3).

8. Ensure Your Data and Samples Are Protected
Research can suddenly be all for nothing if your samples and data are not protected. Does your facility have a generator, or sump pump to protect storage areas? Are these tested regularly? Are pictures and data files labeled according to an agreed protocol and backed up off–site? Are all major procedures run according to a clear written protocol, preferably with an accompanying checklist? Try and run an experiment so that someone else on the team could take it over seamlessly if they needed to and the whole study could be replicated based on your written procedures.

9. Review Your Disaster Plans:
Does your facility have a good protocol to deal with foreseeable disaster, potentially including power outage, fire, severe weather, flooding, break-in and outbreak of zoonosis? These plans protect the animals and the research by preserving their well-being (e.g. use of visual rather than auditory alarms in animal rooms), life (ensuring water, food and temperature control are maintained) and, when necessary, ensuring depopulation is carried out in a timely and humane manner. If plans are already in place, ensure that all staff are familiar with how they are activated and carried out—including coverage outside of working hours.

10. Have Regular Communication Among Researchers, Animal Caregivers and Other Staff
It is often the case that observations of technicians, stock wranglers and caregivers have profound impacts on research. Create a regular opportunity to discuss conditions in the laboratory and behavior of the animals. Other staff who fully appreciate the goals of the research may be more careful and committed to getting a good result rather than just putting in the hours. Regular meetings can also be a great time to take a look at your lab book and learn what uncontrolled factors might be affecting the data. And, don’t forget administrative, executive and maintenance staff who may also appreciate being included as an important part of the team.

Kelly, H. (2010). Incorporating an Ethological Perspective to Improve Animal Welfare and Data Quality. ALN.

Wemelsfelder, F. (2007). “How animals communicate quality of life: the qualitative assessment of behavior “Animal Welfare 16(Supplement1): 25-31.

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At NJABR’s recent Strategy Summit entitled Animal Research: Risks & Reality, keynote speaker Jerrold Tannenbaum cautioned the audience to be aware of shifts in language that have tremendous power to affect public perceptions and ultimately public policy. His focus on enrichment took me by surprise and got me thinking. He pointed out that when Russell and Burch introduced their now famous 3Rs in 1959, the principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement were strategies for minimizing pain and/or distress in laboratory animals.

Over the years, the research community has embraced the 3Rs, which are intrinsic to good science methodology. We are always seeking better, faster, more efficient ways to move the process forward, including seeking ways to replace animals, reduce the number of animals used, and refine techniques.

Enrichment is a form of Refinement, which is described in the New Guide as “modifications of husbandry or experimental procedures to enhance animal well-being and minimize or eliminate pain and distress.” Note the expansion of the concept to animal well-being.

Enrichment itself has more to do with the animal’s environment where the emphasis is on promoting species-specific behaviors, which does affect well-being and implies minimizing or eliminating pain and distress. However, the focus on “providing animals with sensory and motor stimulation” and promoting “psychological well-being” represents quite a shift from the original meaning of the 3Rs and certainly ramps up the role of enrichment in the humane care of laboratory animals. As a community, we need to think about what we say we are doing and carefully watch our words. We struggle to equate the 3Rs with the term “alternatives” that is commonly understood to stand for efforts to replace animals. For some, replacement has become an end in itself. I think we must be careful not to let enrichment become just another weapon in the war of words to end animal research.

Jayne Mackta, Publisher
President & CEO, Global Research Education & Training, LLC (GR8)

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