How providing appropriate enrichment and social housing for laboratory mice reduces suffering and improves research validity.
Laboratory mice occupy a peculiar position in the public welfare consciousness - routinely used in vast numbers with less public concern than would be directed at individual dogs or primates. Yet mice are sentient mammals with complex social needs and significant capacity for suffering. The historical minimalism of standard laboratory housing - bare cages, isolation, no environmental complexity - is increasingly recognized as a welfare failure that also potentially compromises the validity of research results. The good news is that enrichment provision is both ethically justified and practically achievable without major cost implications. Regulatory progress in Europe has demonstrated that minimum enrichment standards are enforceable and broadly adopted.