Laboratory mice are the most widely used animals in biomedical research. Improvements to housing conditions, particularly social housing and environmental enrichment, significantly improve their welfare and research quality.
Laboratory mice in barren, isolated cages experience chronic stress that affects their physiological state and therefore compromises the scientific value of research conducted on them. The dual welfare and scientific case for enrichment and social housing is compelling. Mice without nesting material show temperature regulation problems. Isolated mice show anxiety behaviours. Enriched, group-housed mice are both better welfare subjects and more consistent research models - a rare alignment of ethics and scientific quality.