Dra. Brianna Gaskill
Novartis
USA
Laboratory animal welfare is critically influenced by laboratory animal personnel through their decisions about housing, management, and enrichment. New refinements in these areas have the potential to improve animal welfare. Unfortunately, these refinements are often not implemented even though there is a large amount of evidence to support their use. An example of such a refinement is a positive handling technique called rat tickling. Despite the benefits to rat welfare, laboratory animal personnel rarely or never use the technique. Using ticking as an example I will illustrate how social science approach, of change management, can affect implementation and ultimately animal welfare.
