Post-Surgical Environmental Enrichment in Rodents

Szczepan W. Baran Veterinary Bioscience Institute
Karen Froberg-Fejko Bio-Serv
Jaime Lecker Bio-Serv
Elizabeth J. Johnson Putney Inc
David Disselhorst Laboratory Animal Resources Center, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Daniel Terreros Department of Biomedical Sciences, Paul Foster School of Medicine
Marcel Perret-Gentil Laboratory Animal Resources Center, The University of Texas at San Antonio

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 behaviors110. Many aspects of rodent enrichment have received a significant amount of attention during the last few years, which has lead to great advances in developing a beneficial enrichment program1,4,7. AAALAC International encourages the implementation of rodent enrichment and many institutions require justification by scientists stating why animals should not receive environmental enrichment.

One widely accepted reason for eliminating enrichment is surgery. Some Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) state that withholding environmental enrichment, such as group or pair housing, during the post-surgical period does not require justification by the investigator because single housing is considered within the standard of normal post-operative care. In other words, it will create a safer recovery environment if this form of enrichment is withheld.

Environmental enrichment is intended to decrease stress levels and provide opportunities for rodents to express species-typical behaviors. Therefore, it is possible that depriving an animal experiencing the added stress of isolation, coupled with the catabolic state the animal may already be in because of surgery, may turn an already physiologically abnormal animal more abnormal still. This obviously could lead to confounding data results as well as animal welfare issues.

We have observed that even a change in the animal bedding alters blood pressure measurements11. We conducted an experiment in which we used lean Zucker rats implanted in the abdominal aorta with Data Sciences International PA-C20 tele-metric units interfaced to corresponding radio telemetry receptors, which were stored digitally and displayed on a computer screen. Data were analyzed with the ART 3.1 Analysis software6 using technology we previously used in mice10.

The rats were normally housed on 1/4” bed-o’cobs™ (The Andersons, Inc, Maumee, Ohio) bedding. Once the animals were implanted and their abdominal wound was healed, we replaced the bedding with Enviro-dri™ (Shepherd Specialty Papers, Milford, NJ) for 2.5 days and observed their blood pressure with interesting results. Enviro-dri is a cellulose material consisting of paper strips. We observed that when placed on Enviro-dri, which allows for “tunneling” behavior, the animals initially became more active as they explored their new environment. This activity diminished some as they probably became acclimated to their new environment after the first day. As expected, with this increase in activity we detected increases in heart rate. Interestingly, when the animals returned to the less enriching environment, we did not observe the same “exploratory” behavior with increased activity. The systolic and diastolic pressures, however, were significantly higher in the non-tunneling bed-o-cobs bedding than when Enviro-dri was used. When the animals were returned to the original, less enriching bedding material, we observed that their blood pressure elevated gradually. In this pilot study, we concluded that Enviro-dri is a better substrate for chronic blood pressure experiments when compared to bed-o’cobs.

Surgical procedures and environmental factors produce significant stress in laboratory animals that, as in the study described above, can affect their biomarkers and thus can confound experimental results. It is crucial therefore to place even more emphasis on environmental enrichment techniques to reduce stress and improve recovery.

Providing environmental enrichment to rats post-operatively or post-injury has been demonstrated to improve the ability of the animal to heal and recover2,5,13. A barren environment is stressful to animals and isolation of social animals can lead to delayed recovery and return to normal physiology. Buchhold et al found enrichment to have a beneficial effect on rat recovery in a stroke model, including a reduction in infarct size, in the number of proliferating astrocytes, and in the volume of the glial scar3. Additionally, enrichment provided in the form of nesting materials improved wound healing in rats recovering in isolation12.

One of the most effective forms of enrichment is to pair or group house compatible cohorts together. A common practice post-surgically is to remove a rodent from its group housing and isolate it to recover in a new cage. The most common reasoning is the concern that cage mates will remove sutures and/or injure the surgical site. While theoretically possible, in our experience this is an extremely rare occurrence, leading us to question this practice. If suture “picking” by a cage mate is still a concern, then refining surgical technique by using a subcuticular skin closure instead of closure with external sutures or clips may address this concern.

Subcuticular suture technique can be especially challenging with mice due to the thinness of the skin’s layers, but with expert training and practice, it can be performed. Levine’s study, which supports cohort pair or group housing, found that rats housed individually during physical injury healing had impaired healing compared to rats group housed, emphasizing the negative effect of isolation on wound repair9. When recovering rodents are in wired bottom cages, acclimatization should be performed prior to the surgical procedure to minimize the effects and compilation of stress from anesthesia, surgery and removal of environmental enrichment such as bedding. If post surgical single housing is the only option, we at least concur with the guide when it states, “It is desirable that social animals be housed in groups; however, when they must be housed alone, other forms of enrichment should be provided to compensate.8”

Often, after gastrointestinal surgery, food is removed, as well as edible enrichment, in order to prevent post-surgical complications. This can be problematic for recovery, since a post-surgical animal that’s already in a catabolic state is in greater need of proper nutrition for post-operative survival and recovery. Post-operative rodent diets in soft pelleted, gelled and liquid forms are available and can typically be provided sooner than traditional hard pelleted diets. These diets can stimulate appetite and provide balanced nutrition to facilitate a quicker recovery and return to metabolic homeostasis.

Therefore, reconsidering the traditional practice of housing rodents individually in a barren environment post-surgery, and implementing pair housing with a compatible companion and enrichment has the potential to improve post-surgical recovery. Identifying specific environmental and nutritional enrichment, which facilitate a quicker recovery in rodents, will provide further rationale for including them in rodent post-surgical protocols. Further studies are warranted to address this topic; however it is clear that changing a rodent’s environment and removing enrichment (including single housing) post-surgically is stressful to the animal, which can lead to delayed recovery and overall well-being.

1 Baumans V. 2005. Environmental enrichment for laboratory rodents and rabbits: requirements of rodents, rabbits, and research. ILAR J.46(2):162-170.
2 Berrocal Y, Pearse DD, Singh A, et al. 2007. Social and environmental enrichment improves sensory and motor recovery after severe contusive spinal cord injury in the rat. J Neurotrauma. 24(11):1761-1772.
3 Buchhold B, Mogoanta L, Suofu Y, et al. 2007. Environmental enrichment improves functional and neuropathological indices following stroke in young and aged rats. Restor Neurol Neurosci.25(5-6):467-484.
4 Galef BG, Jr. 1999. Environmental enrichment for laboratory rodents: animal welfare and the methods of science. J Appl Anim Welf Sci.2(4):267-280.
5 Hoffman AN, Malena RR, Westergom BP, et al. 2008. Environmental enrichment-mediated functional improvement after experimental traumatic brain injury is contingent on task-specific neurobehavioral experience. Neurosci Lett. 431(3):226-230.
6 Huetteman DA, Bogie H. 2009. Direct blood pressure monitoring in laboratory rodents via implantable radio telemetry. Methods Mol Biol.573:57-73.
7 Hutchinson E, Avery A, Vandewoude S. 2005. Environmental enrichment for laboratory rodents. ILAR J. 46(2):148-161.
8 Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (U.S.). Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. 7th ed., Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 1996.
9 Levine JB, Leeder AD, Parekkadan B, et al. 2008. Isolation rearing impairs wound healing and is associated with increased locomotion and decreased immediate early gene expression in the medial prefrontal cortex of juvenile rats. Neuroscience. 151(2):589-603.
10 Sparling JE, Mahoney M, Baker S, Bielajew C. 2009. The effects of gestational and postpartum environmental enrichment on the mother rat: A preliminary investigation. Behav Brain Res.
11 Terreros D. Effect of bedding type on Blood Pressure Lean Zucker Rat. El Paso 2010.
12 Vitalo A, Fricchione J, Casali M, et al. 2009. Nest making and oxytocin comparably promote wound healing in isolation reared rats. PLoS One. 4(5):e5523.
13 Whishaw IQ, Zaborowski JA, Kolb B. 1984. Postsurgical enrichment aids adult hemidecorticate rats on a spatial navigation task. Behav Neural Biol. 42(2):183-190.

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Enrichment Adventures: Taking the Initiative— Creating a Program That Works

Kimberly A. Wasko, CVT, VTS, RALAT Department of Surgery, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Background
Rodents are the most widely utilized animal model for disease in the world of biomedical research. Despite their essential role, the range of behavior and behavioral needs of these animals is repeatedly under-recognized and underdeveloped. Providing animals with artificial and natural objects can be considered enriching. Enrichment activities are designed to improve the welfare of animals by reducing the levels of abnormal/injurious behavior while maintaining natural and instinctual behaviors. Understanding the species-specific behaviors in depth will improve animal welfare during captivity or limited environments.

The primary goal is to provide enrichment that benefits the animals and science alike. The implementation of a proactive enrichment/ socialization program can reduce atypical convalescence issues and discomfort/distress while facilitating quality care.

In the field of laboratory medicine, federal regulations exist requiring institutions to provide for the psychological well being of many laboratory animals. Enrichment is an outstanding channel of achieving these objectives. Animal enrichment is not mandated for all animals but animal welfare is emphasized by regulatory agencies.1 Proper enrichment can reduce stereotypies and other undesirable behaviors while increasing species-typical postures, activities and behavior.2

In Europe, the “Convention For The Protection Of Vertebrate Animals Used For Experimental And Other Scientific Purposes” provides guidelines for creating lab environments that allow some freedom of movement, as well as a supply of food, water, and care appropriate to animals’ health and well-being. The guidelines, which must be ratified, also state that researchers should check environmental conditions daily and monitor the animals’ emotional well being.1

With a proper understanding of animal enrichment, researchers will be able to enrich laboratory animals without affecting results or compromising experimental design. Since animals respond differently to social and environmental interaction, a consistent program is essential. Accordingly, the physical and social environment requires evaluation.

Indications—Why We Did It
We sought to provide a proactive enrichment program to reduce stress and facilitate quality care due to two principal distressing conditions our animals were experiencing:
1. atypical convalescence issues
2. administration of chemical restraint to perform non-invasive procedures. Devising a comprehensive program allowed us to:
a. provide enrichment that did not alter, compromise or impose a variable to our animal studies and
b. challenge the rats with enrichment to improve their ability to cope with new situations.

Objective
The goals were to:
1. return the animal to homeostasis as rapidly as possible
2. reduce atypical convalescence issues post-operatively
3. replace the use of chemical restraint with socialization and enrichment to perform non-invasive procedures such as, but not limited to, bandage changes, infra-red/ caliper measurements and per os (not gavage) oral medication dosing.

Design—How We Did It
All of our studies were approved and performed according to IACUC and regulatory guidelines. The preliminary step focused on education. Education was fundamental towards devising a comprehensive enrichment program for our rodents. After our education sessions, we were furnished with the foundation—or “fundation” as we refer to it—of enrichment facts and information. Now it was up to us to envision and create it—and we did.

Phase I
The introduction of various food treats and devices was the initial step for phase I. Treats and devices (Bio-Serv, Frenchtown, NJ) were first implemented for our surgical patients. Typically, animals have to rear on their hindquarters to reach the food pellets and water. After an abdominal invasive procedure, it was not sensible to have our rats stretching and struggling to reach their food. By repetitive motion, the animals experienced increased discomfort thus resulting in decreased appetite and hydration. The solution was to temporarily provide floor feeding with enrichment treats, which were certified and nutritionally fortified to support post-operative convalescence and encourage the appetite. We also supplied a re-hydration oral solution in bowls in addition to the water bottle. We offered an array of treats of foraging crumbles, black oiled sunflower seeds, bacon flavored treats, dehydrated fruit and vegetables. We also enhanced the cage environment with hiding retreats, wood blocks and crumble fruit discs to encourage typical psychological behaviors. Treats were extended for 72 hours post-operatively, then twice weekly until the study completion; devices were extended continuously. With remarkable results, 98% of animals experienced substantial decreased complications, such as weight loss, dehydration, lethargy and dull mentation. Because of these results, all current and forthcoming protocols include this new comprehensive enrichment program for any animal undergoing a surgical procedure.

Phase II
The second phase was to implement a socialization and agility program to replace the use of chemical restraint to perform non-invasive procedures such as bandage changes and applications, oral dosing and performing various methods of measurements of the affected surgical sites. Each time an animal would undergo chemical restraint, which could range from two to three times per week, regardless of method (gas anesthesia, injectable anesthesia), the risk of morbidity and mortality greatly increased. In addition, animals were experiencing persistent complications: weight loss, dehydration, decreased appetite, lethargy, increased discomfort, increased nervousness/fear and fatality from this type of restraint. In addition to the treat and device regimen, a socialization and agility program was implemented. Socialization occurred at 10-15 minute intervals/per rat three times per week, and included tolerant handling, holding, petting and positive reinforcement food training. The agility course was prepared differently for each set up on an enclosed cart or extra large caging unit. The agility course could include dumbbells, hiding retreats, tubes, crumpled blankets, wood blocks and stuffed animals. Any item could be used for agility as long as it did not impose any physical harm to the animal. The course was set up so the animal could explore and have the space to roam and indulge its curiosity along with physical exercise and mental stimulation. Animals either participated in agility twice weekly for 20-30 minute intervals singly or partnered. Again, the results were significant—100% of the animals responded and we were able to eliminate chemical restraint for non-invasive procedures to date. Animals exhibited and experienced less stress, less fear, increased comfort and became highly sociable. This program has been implemented in current and forthcoming protocols for any animal undergoing a non-invasive procedure.

Discussion
Due to inadequate assessment, there are many opportunities for research in the field of enrichment. Addressing the psychological and physical needs of our research animals created less variability in our results. Most importantly, it improved quality and humane animal welfare. This lessened the need to repeat our experiments and thus allowed the use of fewer animals. Implementing a comprehensive enrichment program and discovering an alternative to chemical restraint decreased atypical convalescence and complications while adding a ‘fun’ element for our animals.
The most humane habitat possible for all research animals should be provided. With a proper understanding of enrichment, animals can be enriched without affecting results or compromising experimental design. GO ENRICHMENT!

Acknowledgements
The author would like to express sincere appreciation to Bio-Serv of Frenchtown, NJ, for laying the groundwork for our enrichment program.

The Law on Animal Care
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA), America’s foremost animal protection law, covers some lab animals, such as primates, dogs, and guinea pigs. But in 1972, the US Department of Agriculture declared that mice, rats, and birds were exempt from AWA protections. An updated version of the AWA, enacted in 1985, bolsters the standards of care for all laboratory animals, and specifically promotes “the psychological well-being of primates.” Though an estimated 25 million lab rats and mice are still exempt from AWA,1 most major US research institutions receive money from the Public Health Service and must have their animal welfare guidelines approved by the National Institutes of Health Office for Laboratory AnimalWelfare.1

1 NRC (National Research Council) 1996. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. 7th ed.Washington DC: National Academy Press.
2 Bayne KAL, Beaver BV, Mench JA, Morton DB, 2002. Laboratory Animal Behavior. Laboratory Animal Medicine. 1229-1264.

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Searching For Environmental Enrichment for Laboratory Animals

Tim Allen US Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library, Animal Welfare Information Center

Finding info on environmental enrichment for lab animals. At first glance, this seems like a pretty straight forward exercise. Go to PubMed, type in environmental enrichment, click search, be done. That is until you look at that first citation—Oxysterol-binding proteins. Ridgway ND. Subcell Biochem. 2010; 51:159-82—and realize that unless your mouse enjoys reading about sterol signalling her life is going to remain decidedly unenriched. In fact, of the first 20 citations retrieved using this simple strategy, only one record would provide information to help our mouse. So what do we do? How do we improve our strategy to improve our results?

One simple solution is to know how to search on the database or platform you are using. Most systems, including PubMed (when we talk about PubMed, we also include Medline), allow you to use simple quotation marks to create a phrase; without them the search utility usually assumes you want records containing the words environmental AND enrichment, no matter where they appear in the record. Our mouse is learning to become a biochemist because that first record contained the phrase “enrichment of the plasma membrane” and later “a relatively cholesterol-poor environment.” Consequently, it met the criteria for being included in the retrieved records. To overcome this problem, if you aren’t familiar with how the database finds information, read the help section and learn how to properly use the system so you can search more effectively and more efficiently.

Terminology is also very important. While everyone talks about “environmental enrichment” (EE), not everyone writes about “environmental enrichment.” Databases also have their own way of indexing the topic. While that phrase will certainly find information on the topic, it is not the only useful terminology.  A look at PubMed will illustrate this.

One of the wonderful features of PubMed is its MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terminology. According to their website, “MeSH is the National Library of Medicine’s controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles for MEDLINE/PubMed. MeSH terminology provides a consistent way to retrieve information that may use different terminology for the same concepts.” When you search PubMed for information on “heart attack,” PubMed uses MeSH to “map” that term to the MeSH term “myocardial infarction” and other related terms. So without the searcher having to do anything, you will find articles related to “heart attack” even if the article doesn’t use that specific phrase. This is a very easy and powerful way to find information and many people rely upon it to ensure a comprehensive search of a topic.  (Mapping doesn’t occur if truncation is used, e.g. heart attack*; the asterisk [*] is a truncation symbol). Unfortunately, there is no MeSH term for our phrase of interest. From a few quick and dirty searches of PubMed, EE-related articles are indexed using a variety of MeSH terms such as “Behavior, Animal,” “Environment,” “Environment, Controlled,” “Play and Playthings,” “Social Environment,” “Animal Husbandry/Methods,” and many others.

I suspect that part of the problem is that PubMed is now indexing more animal welfare and animal husbandry-related articles and having to fit them into MeSH terminology that is geared more toward biomedical and clinical science. As you might imagine, other databases that are more focused on veterinary and animal science topics have an easier time managing this issue. Look at Agricola produced by USDA’s National Agricultural Library or CAB Abstracts produced by CAB International and you can jump into the EE literature using the phrase “environmental enrichment” because it is part of each database’s thesaurus. The Biosis database uses the phrase also. Knowing how information is indexed in the database you are searching can be useful in helping to retrieve quality information on your topic.

As good as PubMed is, it is not the only source of information. Other databases, such as those mentioned above, will also provide information that may or may not be found in PubMed. While we won’t discuss it here, Google can also be very useful. If we use our phrase “environmental enrichment” and add in the terms “animal* or rat or rats or mouse or mice or rodent* or dog or dogs or cat or cats or bird* or avian or gerbil* or hamster* or primate* or rhesus, [The asterisk is a truncation mark and lets us search for plurals and other versions of the word.] and search across PubMed, EmBase, Agricola, CAB Abstracts, Biosis Previews, and PsychINFO, there are 4270 unique articles that are retrieved. PubMed contains 282, EmBase contains 83, Biosis contains 492, Agricola contains 552, CAB has 238, and PsychINFO has 2623. If you only looked in PubMed, you would miss 3,988 unique articles. Just as we emphasize with the search for alternatives, broaden your sources when looking for information whether it is alternatives, enrichment, or your science. As seen from the example, another good source for enrichment information, especially for the effects of enrichment on physiology, behavior, and development, is PsychINFO, produced by the American Psychology Association.

When you’re searching for information to establish an enrichment program, to keep up-to-date with the latest findings, or determine the effects of enrichment on an animal model, it is best to use additional terms to find useful information. Enrichment programs can intervene in any aspect of the animal’s daily life and should take this into account. Enriched or standard housing, diet and the way it is presented to the animals, social groups vs. pair housing vs. isolation, toys and other manipulanda (HAD to get that word in here!), running wheels, nestlets…All of these things can go into an enrichment program or a study on enrichment.  The various databases discussed contain EE information from numerous scientific studies, if you can find it.  Depending upon the platform searched, it can be easy or difficult to create phrases or to tell the system that you want two terms near each other in the article. Learn how the search engine works, so you can have better results. So here’s a short list of terms that I have used when searching for enrichment information. Add in your own terms to tailor the search to your specific needs.

General

• Environmental enrichment or enhancement

• Enriched or enhanced environment

• Environmental complexity

• Preference testing

Housing or caging or rearing conditions

• Enriched housing

• Pair or group or social housing or social environment or social groups

• Pair or group formation

• Social isolation or social deprivation

• Complex cage or complex housing

• Nesting material or nestlets (include bedding or substrate if looking for effects of these things)

Enrichment objects

• Toy or toys

• Play or playthings

• Manipulanda

• Foraging boards

• Puzzle feeders

• Nestlets

• Nest box

• Wheel(s) (running wheel(s))

• Chew sticks

• Terms for food items

Animal care is always improved when people have access to the latest information. If you are having trouble finding information or don’t have ready access to information sources, feel free to contact AWIC for help. You can reach us at 301-504-6212 or at awic@ars.usda.gov

Sources

Agricola
http://agricola.nal.usda.gov
An agricultural and veterinary database produced by the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Library. Free.

Animal Welfare Information Center—Environmental Enrichment and Exercise
http://awic.nal.usda.gov
Go to Research Animals then Environmental Enrichment and Exercise
A portal to enrichment information produced by AWIC, Animal Care, and other organizations. Includes “Environmental Enrichment for Nonhuman Primates, 2009,” “USDA Perspective on Environmental Enrichment for Animals” and links to other sources of enrichment information. Free.

Animal Welfare Institute—Laboratory Animals
http://www.awionline.org/ht/d/sp/i/214/pid/214
This site will provide access to AWI’s Primate Enrichment Database and Database on Refinement of Housing and Handling Conditions and Environmental Enrichment for Animals kept in Laboratories, Environmental Enrichment and Refinement for Nonhuman Primates Kept in Research Laboratories: A Photographic Documentation and Literature Review, Making Lives Easier for Animals in Research Labs—Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum, Practical enrichment options (2008), Comfortable Quarters for Laboratory Animals (2002), and other quality resources. Free.

Bio-Serve
http://www.bio-serv.com/

Bio-Serv is a designer and manufacturer of an extensive line of environmental enrichment treats and devices.

BIOSIS Previews
http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/biosis_previews
BIOSIS life sciences databases deliver current, multidisciplinary information on agriculture, biodiversity, biotechnology, drug discovery, gene therapy, marine biology, wildlife conservation, zoology, and other topics. Fee.

BVAAWF/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW
Joint Working Group on Refinement—Refining dog husbandry and care
http://la.rsmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/38/suppl_1/42.pdf
Guidelines from the British Veterinary Association and other UK animal welfare organizations for dogs in research. Chapter 8 covers environmental enrichment specifically but the document, in general, discusses the needs of the dog in the research setting.

Canadian Council on Animal Care—Education, Training, and Communications—Module 7 Environmental Enrichment
http://www.ccac.ca/en/CCAC_Programs/ETCC/Intro-coretopics-Web11.htm
In this online training program, the reader is introduced “to the concept of environmental enrichment, the elements involved in environmental enrichment, the effects of environmental enrichment within the research effort, and examples of environmental enrichment.” Examples are provided for all laboratory animals. Free.

Development of an Environmental Enrichment Program Utilizing Simple Strategies
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/newsletters/v12n1/vol12no1final.pdf
An article from the AWIC Bulletin by Kay Stewart, Associate Director of Freimann Life Science Center, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.

Enrichment Online
http://www.enrichmentonline.org/browse/index.asp?c=Mammals
A wonderful site provided by the Fort Worth Zoo. According to the website, “The mission of this site is to provide professional animal managers, both in zoo and laboratory settings, a comprehensive resource for incorporating enrichment into the care and husbandry of captive animals.” Free.

ILAR Journal—Enrichment Strategies for Laboratory Animals
http://dels.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarjournal/46_2/html/index.shtml
This issue of ILAR Journal provides valuable points of view about achieving high levels of well being for animals used for research.

Laboratory Primate Newsletter
http://www.brown.edu/Research/Primate/enrich.html
Articles on Environmental Enrichment and Psychological Well-Being

National Center for the 3Rs—Housing and Husbandry
http://www.nc3rs.org.uk/category.asp?fid=1&catID=42
“The quality of housing and husbandry has a major impact on laboratory animal health and welfare. There is an expanding body of scientific literature to demonstrate that environments that do not meet animals’ physical, behavioral and/or social needs can result in changes in physiology and to abnormal behavior (e.g. stereotypes) which not only compromise animal welfare but also influence the validity and reproducibility of the scientific data obtained.” Free.

PsychINFO
http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx
PsychINFO provides systematic coverage of the psychological literature from the 1800s to the present. The database also includes records from the 1600s and 1700s.

PubMed
http://www.pubmed.gov
“PubMed lets you search millions of journal citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences. It includes access to MEDLINE and to citations for selected articles in life science journals not included in MEDLINE.” Free.

Refinement in the literature: Searching for environmental enrichment
http://altweb.jhsph.edu/bin/o/i/paper307.pdf
An article by AWIC’s Kristina Adams from the Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Alternatives & Animal Use in the Life Sciences held in Japan in 2007.

The Shape of Enrichment
http://www.enrichment.org
The purpose behind this non-profit group is to “promote worldwide environmental enrichment efforts for captive animals. The Shape of Enrichment, Inc. encourages improvements in animal welfare through education and international exchanges of enrichment theory and application.” An astounding compilation of tried and tested enrichment strategies from zoos and other facilities. Access newsletters, videos, conference announcements, etc. The website includes a safety database which provides anecdotal accounts of problems that have been encountered with the use of some enrichment items. Primarily developed for captive animals but can be useful for programs that use them in the research setting. If it deals with enrichment, it’s here! Free/Fee

Mention of commercial enterprises or brand names does not constitute endorsement or imply preference by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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