The Berlin Workshop Report on Laboratory Animal Housing
The standards of housing and care required for laboratory animals in Europe are set out in Annexe II of the Directive 86/609/EEC on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.
Appendix A of the Council of Europe Convention ETS 123 provides almost identical standards. In May 1993 the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry in Germany organised a workshop to review these housing and care standards to see if they needed to be updated. Laboratory animal behaviour and care experts from most EU countries attended the meeting. Directorate General XI of the European Commission, which has responsibility for this Directive, provided financial support for the Workshop. The report of the meeting, edited by Philip O'Donoghue, was published last year.
Overall, the report concluded that Annexe II of the Directive and Appendix A of the Convention needed to give more detail on how best to cage laboratory animals, focusing on social interactions between animals, structuring accommodation to allow subdivision and providing material for the animals to use in activities. No significant problems were found with the recommendations for ventilation, humidity and lighting, although a few minor changes were suggested. The report identifies a need for further research on the effect of cage size and structure on animal welfare.
The report was produced to "be considered in further discussions on" laboratory animal accommodation. It was not intended for uncritical acceptance and it would be to our discredit if we allowed that to happen. In addition to its own merits as a thoughtful contribution to the subject, the report demands serious attention because it has been submitted to the EU Commission and the Council of Europe for discussion about whether Annexe II of the Directive and Annexe A of the Convention need to be amended. The report makes a number of direct proposals to amend the Annexe which are summarised below.
Rodents
Rodents (except for guinea pigs) should be kept in polycarbonate or polypropylene cages rather than pens. For rodents, group housing is preferable to single housing, so long as the group size, sex ratios, etc are adjusted to make sure the groups are stable and harmonious. There is a need for research to produce better information about minimum cage sizes for rodents. In most situations, solid floors should be used for rodents instead of grid floors. Encouragement should be given to break up the interior space of a rodent cage by introducing platforms, tubes, boxes, etc. Rodents should be provided with bedding except in exceptional circumstances. The frequency of rodent cage cleaning should be a compromise between hygiene and preserving the odour patterns left by the animals. Attempts should be made to provide environmental enrichment for rodents with objects to explore, carry or transform. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring the lighting intensity in the top row of cages is not too high. Ultrasound should be included in the definition of noise used in Annexe II of the Directive. Alarm systems, telephones and door bells within rodent housing should be designed to operate at frequencies below the rodent hearing range.
Rabbits Young and female rabbits should be group-housed unless the experimental procedure makes this impossible. The tables of rabbit cage sizes by animal weight should be amended to increase the size of cages and reflect more the welfare requirements of rabbits. Minimum areas for rabbits housed in pens should be included in the Appendix A. Grid floors should not be used for rabbits. The requirement that pens should be designed for the well-being of the species should be extended to include cages. Such design should include environmental enrichment material eg roughage, sticks, an area for withdrawal and nesting material. The controls on lighting and noise recommended by GVSOLAS should be brought into the Appendix.
Cats Cats should be housed in socially harmonious small groups or in pairs if this is not possible. There should be 0.8 square metres floor area per cat for group housed animals. Cage heights for cats should allow the animal to stand up at full stretch. Cat pens should provide semi-closed structures for privacy, objects to play with and enough places for feeding, drinking and lying to avoid competition. The ventilation rate in Appendix A for group housed cats should be reduced to 8 to 10 air changes per hour. The range of room temperatures for cats should be extended to 15-24 degrees Centigrade. Low-level illumination should be provided for cats during dark periods.
Dogs No dog should be kept in a cage longer than 14 days without daily exercise, preferably with other dogs. Dogs housed singly should receive contact each day from a person familiar to the animal. Dog pens should include playthings and structures to allow some privacy. Dogs should be protected from wetting when pens are being hosed out. The ventilation rate in Appendix A for pen-housed dogs should be reduced to 8 to 10 air changes per hour. Low-level illumination should be provided for dogs during dark periods.
Minipigs Minipigs should be kept in stable groups and mixing of unfamiliar pigs should be minimized. Only exceptionally should they be housed in individual stalls. Minipigs should normally be kept in pens, not cages. Pen sizes for minipigs of particular weights should be increased. If minipigs are to be caged singly for procedures, the cage size for any size pigs should be a minimum of 0.8 square metres floor area (currently the size for pigs over 25kg) and 0.8 metres height.
Laying hens The minimum sizes for chicken cages should be revised.
Non-human primates The minimum floor areas and cage heights for non-human primates should be increased significantly. Primate cages should have environmental enrichment. Primates should be kept in harmonious social groups unless there is specific reason for single caging. Non-human primates should be added to the list of animals in Article 21 of the Council of Europe Convention ETS 123 (animals which should normally be acquired only from registered breeding establishments).
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