Enhancing Laboratory Animal Welfare: Key Takeaways from the 2024 Enrichment Survey

At ClearH2O, we are dedicated to advancing laboratory animal welfare through hydration, nutrition, medication delivery, and enrichment solutions. To better understand the evolving landscape of animal care in research settings, we conducted an extensive 2024 Laboratory Animal Enrichment Survey, gathering insights from 253 professionals across diverse roles such as veterinarians, lab managers, and research assistants.

This report sheds light on current enrichment practices, priorities, and challenges, offering a comprehensive view of how research facilities are working to enhance the well-being of laboratory animals.

The Growing Importance of Animal Enrichment

A striking 91.3% of respondents emphasized that enrichment is extremely important for laboratory animal welfare. This underscores a near-universal consensus that providing stimulating environments and activities is essential for reducing stress, promoting natural behaviors, and improving research outcomes.

Among the key motivations for implementing enrichment, respondents ranked the following as top priorities:

• Reducing stress and anxiety
• Encouraging natural behaviors
• Improving health outcomes
• Meeting regulatory requirements

Access the full survey report here!

Types of Enrichment: What’s Being Used?

Laboratories employ various forms of enrichment to support animal welfare, with environmental enrichment leading the way:

• 97.6% of respondents use environmental enrichment such as shelters, nesting materials, and climbing structures.
• 75.5% incorporate nutritional enrichment like treats, foraging bits, and dietary supplements.
• Social enrichment and interactive devices are also common strategies, with some labs incorporating human interactions, playpens, and manipulanda to engage animals further.

Notably, there is a lack of standardization across facilities regarding enrichment protocols, suggesting an opportunity to develop more consistent best practices in the field.

Nutritional Enrichment: A Rising Priority

Beyond environmental factors, nutrition-based enrichment is gaining traction as an effective tool for enhancing animal welfare. Researchers recognize the multiple benefits of integrating enrichment into dietary practices:

• 96.8% of those using nutritional enrichment believe it offers significant advantages over traditional methods.
• The most widely used enrichment foods include sunflower seeds, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and specialized products like DietGel® and HydroGel®.
• Respondents highlighted that nutritional enrichment improves engagement and supports better health outcomes.

Challenges in Implementing Nutritional Enrichment

While the benefits are clear, several key factors influence whether a lab chooses to implement nutritional enrichment, including:

• Animal health & safety (Top priority)
• Research protocol requirements
• Cost and product availability
• Ease of use and potential impact on research variability

Looking Ahead: Advancing Enrichment Practices

The findings from this survey highlight the widespread commitment among laboratory professionals to improving animal welfare through enrichment. However, challenges such as standardization and balancing research requirements with enrichment protocols remain key considerations.

At ClearH2O, we are committed to supporting laboratories with effective, ethical, and science-backed enrichment solutions that align with both welfare goals and research integrity. LabGel® Forage is the latest example of this. LabGel® Forage comes in three different formulations, LabGel® Forage Seeds, LabGel® Forage Veggies, and LabGel® Forage Fusion. Each provide a ready-to-use, highly-palatable foraging gel supplement with various inclusions designed to keep animals entertained for extended periods. Check them out and request a free sample today!