ABSTRACT
In the United States, the concept of addressing the behavioral needs of research animals rst came to the forefront through the 1985 amendments to the Animal Welfare Act (PL 99-198, “The Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act”) which directed the Secretary of Agriculture to develop regulations to ensure an adequate physical environment to promote the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates and to provide for the exercise of dogs. These stipulations were considered progressive at the time. The contemporaneous Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals1 did not yet recognize this important aspect of the welfare of laboratory animals, stating that meeting the biologic needs of the animals involved “maintenance of body temperature, urination, defecation, and, if appropriate, reproduction….” However, the resulting regulations pertaining to exercise for dogs and psychological well-being for nonhuman primates prompted a signicant amount of research into laboratory animal behavior, and more specically, environmental enrichment. The output of this research effort included signicant changes in the way in which nonhuman primates were housed in laboratories and consideration of promoting physical activity in dogs.
