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Laboratory mouse housing conditions can be improved using common environmental enrichment without compromising data.

ABSTRACT: Animal welfare requires the adequate housing of animals to ensure health and well-being. The application of environmental enrichment is a way to improve the well-being of laboratory animals. However, it is important to know whether these enrichment items can be incorporated in experimental mouse husbandry without creating a divide between past and future experimental results. Previous small-scale studies have been inconsistent throughout the literature, and it is not yet completely understood whether and how enrichment might endanger comparability of results of scientific experiments. Here, we measured the effect on means and variability of 164 physiological parameters in 3 conditions: with nesting material with or without a shelter, comparing these 2 conditions to a "barren" regime without any enrichments. We studied a total of 360 mice from each of 2 mouse strains (C57BL/6NTac and DBA/2NCrl) and both sexes for each of the 3 conditions. Our study indicates that enrichment affects the mean values of some of the 164 parameters with no consistent effects on variability. However, the influence of enrichment appears negligible compared to the effects of other influencing factors. Therefore, nesting material and shelters may be used to improve animal welfare without impairment of experimental outcome or loss of comparability to previous data collected under barren housing conditions.

SUBMITTER: Andre V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5922977 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Laboratory mouse housing conditions can be improved using common environmental enrichment without compromising data.

André Viola V Gau Christine C Scheideler Angelika A Aguilar-Pimentel Juan A JA Amarie Oana V OV Becker Lore L Garrett Lillian L Hans Wolfgang W Hölter Sabine M SM Janik Dirk D Moreth Kristin K Neff Frauke F Östereicher Manuela M Racz Ildiko I Rathkolb Birgit B Rozman Jan J Bekeredjian Raffi R Graw Jochen J Klingenspor Martin M Klopstock Thomas T Ollert Markus M Schmidt-Weber Carsten C Wolf Eckhard E Wurst Wolfgang W Gailus-Durner Valérie V Brielmeier Markus M Fuchs Helmut H Hrabé de Angelis Martin M

PLoS biology 20180416 4

Animal welfare requires the adequate housing of animals to ensure health and well-being. The application of environmental enrichment is a way to improve the well-being of laboratory animals. However, it is important to know whether these enrichment items can be incorporated in experimental mouse husbandry without creating a divide between past and future experimental results. Previous small-scale studies have been inconsistent throughout the literature, and it is not yet completely understood wh ...[more]

PMID: 29659570

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Project description:Simple Summary Boredom may be an overlooked animal welfare problem because of monotonous or predictable routines and confined living conditions that often typify captivity. We investigated whether pet ferret owners believe ferrets are able to experience boredom and which behaviours they use to recognise ferret boredom using an online questionnaire. We also explored whether owners’ beliefs of ferret boredom were linked to environmental enrichments (e.g., toys and shelters) or housing they provided or the style of training they used for their ferrets. Of the 621 responses, most (93%) owners believed that ferrets could experience boredom. Owners who doubted that ferrets could feel bored gave their ferrets significantly fewer types of environmental enrichment than other owners did. The analysis of behaviours that owners linked with boredom showed that ferrets ‘scratching at enclosure walls’ and ‘sleeping more than normal’ were key behaviours that owners use to distinguish ferret boredom from other emotions. This fits with the idea that boredom causes both active seeking behaviour and excessively inactive behaviour. Owners suggested housing with other ferrets, human interaction, and exploration as most important for preventing boredom. These results suggest that pet ferrets are at risk of poorer welfare if their owners doubt that ferrets can experience boredom. Abstract Boredom is a potential chronic but overlooked animal welfare problem. Caused by monotony, sub-optimal stimulation, and restrictive housing, boredom can therefore affect companion animals, particularly those traditionally caged, such as ferrets. We surveyed owners’ (n = 621) perceptions of ferrets’ capacity to experience boredom, behaviours they associate with it, and whether their perception of their ferrets’ capacity for boredom influenced training techniques, housing, and environmental enrichment (EE). Most (93.0%) owners believed that ferrets could experience boredom, but owners who doubted that ferrets experience boredom (7.0%) provided slightly but significantly fewer EE types to their ferrets. Heat map and classification tree analysis showed that owners identified scratching at enclosure walls (n = 420) and excessive sleeping (n = 312) as distinctive behavioural indicators of ferret boredom. Repetitive pacing (n = 381), yawning (n = 191), and resting with eyes open (n = 171) were also suggested to indicate ferret boredom, but these overlapped with other states. Finally, ferret owners suggested social housing, tactile interaction with humans, and exploration as most important for preventing boredom. These results suggest that pet ferrets are at risk of reduced welfare from owners who doubt they can experience boredom, highlighting an opportunity to improve welfare through information dissemination. We recommend further investigation into ferret boredom capacity, behavioural indicators, and mitigation strategies.

Dataset Information

Laboratory mouse housing conditions can be improved using common environmental enrichment without compromising data.

Publications

Laboratory mouse housing conditions can be improved using common environmental enrichment without compromising data.

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