Animal care best practices for regulatory testing

Best practices result from a partnership between law, science, and the people working with the animals on regulated studies. In an ideal setting, people working with animals observe and study animal behavior as influenced by different housing and handling paradigms. These observations are published to create a body of science, and laws are promulgated based on the science. The ideal world does not exist, but there are certain components of best practices common to all species. These components include study design, housing, social contact, diet/feed, enrichment devices, and human interaction. This paper outlines how the forces of law, science, and people work to create best practices for species in regulated studies, specifically mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, and nonhuman primates.