When using animals in research, we should strive to continuously improve their lives through the application of the principle of refinement. Refinement means minimizing any pain, suffering, and distress of research while also improving welfare. It includes improving housing and husbandry as well as promoting expression of species-specific behavior.

NA3RsC’s refinement initiative strives to promote refinement of housing, husbandry, and procedures in laboratory animal care to improve animal welfare and scientific rigor. We’ve created 16 high-level resource pages on common laboratory species. These pages outline recommendations for housing, husbandry, and common procedures. They link out to more extensive resources and videos.

In 2022, our refinement group is working to create a refined mouse handling certificate course, publishing LAS Pro Articles, benchmarking survey results and year 2 of data collection. We are excited to launch a downloadable and editable slide deck + SOP on refined mouse handling as well as have an additional 7 more presentations at NJABR, CALAS, and more. A blood resource hub will be created to have easy access to more information regarding the studies.

Do you have a question about your refinement at your institution?

Contact us at contactus@na3rsc.org . We can act as a resource/consulting group for institutions looking for an external review.

Are you interested in joining our group?

Send a brief statement of interest and your CV/resume to contactus@na3rsc.org