University of Stirling improving animal welfare for dogs

A study, conducted by the University of Stirling, in collaboration with AstraZeneca and Charles River Laboratories, aimed to look at the impact of modern, purpose-built dog facilities, on the animals’ welfare. Dr Laura Scullion Hall and Professor Hannah Buchanan-Smith, from the Behaviour and Evolution Group (BERG) at the University of Stirling, published a paper (1) that aimed to validate the welfare benefits of the modern home design pens for dogs. The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in the UK, and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).

There is a clear body of evidence showing the positive impacts of housing refinement on numerous species (2)(3)(4), however, according to Hall, the design of the home pens for dogs “has received little scientific attention since the 1990s, since when legislative minimum standards have improved”. Dogs spend most of their time in home pens, usually interspersed with occasional use of playrooms. The study compared animal welfare using the modern and traditional home pens.

different-pens-for-dogs-in-research
From left to right: modern home pen; traditional home pen; indoor play area. Image Credit: Behaviour and Evolution Research Group, University of Stirling.

These newer home pens are larger (around 4.8m2/animal compared with the EU minimum of 2.25m2/animal), provide good visibility for the dogs and staff, choice of resting places, noise reducing materials, horizontal rather than vertical bars and enrichment toys inside. The researchers concluded that “the Refinements described here are implemented consistently across industry and suggest that factors such as home pen design should be included in the design of experimental studies.”

Laboratory housed dogs in home pens, AstraZeneca facility. Credit: Laura Hall / Refining Dog Care
Laboratory housed dogs in modern home pens, AstraZeneca facility. Credit: Laura Hall / Refining Dog Care

Dr Hall had previously won an award from NC3Rs for her paper on improving techniques for oral dosing in dogs.  She also developed the “Refining Dog Care” website, to:

[I]mprove the welfare of dogs used in scientific research and testing worldwide, and to improve the quality of data which is obtained from their use. We do this by collaborating with our partners in industry, drawing on expertise and empirical data, to provide guidance on best practice for housing and husbandry, and provide online resources and hands-on training to staff to implement positive reinforcement training protocols for regulated procedures.

Around 4,000 procedures on dogs are carried out in the UK each year (around 0.1% of the total), these are mainly for safety testing, conducted at pharmaceutical or contract research organisations. The fact this research was conducted in collaboration with such organisations will hopefully speed its implementation.

Speaking of Research

References:

  1. Hall et al, 2016, “The influence of facility and home pen design on the welfare of the laboratory-housed dog” in Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods,
  2. Everds et al, 2013, “Interpreting stress responses during routine toxicity studies a review of the biology, impact, and assessment” in Toxicologic Pathology, 41 (2013)
  3. Hall, 2014, A practical framework for harmonising welfare and quality of data output in the laboratory-housed dog,D. thesis
  4. Tasker, 2012, Linking welfare and quality of scientific output in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) used for regulatory toxicology,D. thesis