The housing conditions of laboratory animals significantly affect their welfare and experimental results. Enriched environments that meet species-specific needs reduce stress and improve the quality of research outcomes.
Laboratory animal welfare has improved substantially in many jurisdictions through the 3Rs framework and increasingly rigorous institutional oversight. However, the gap between regulatory minimum standards and genuinely good welfare remains significant in many facilities. Enrichment provision is often minimal despite evidence that richer environments improve both animal welfare and data quality by reducing stress-induced physiological variability. Investing in improved housing and enrichment is therefore not a concession to animal welfare at the expense of science but a strategy that improves both simultaneously.