Financial support, attending veterinarians, and training programs help facilitate environmental enrichment in...

To identify the factors critical for establishing a successful environmental enrichment (EE) program in laboratory animal research facilities in South Korea, where EE legislation and guidelines have been recently introduced.

Using a cross-sectional/observational design, surveys were conducted in 2022 and 2023 among researchers and employees involved with laboratory animals in South Korea. Of the 945 responses received, 631 were analyzed per the eligibility criteria: no knowledge of whether the institution had an attending veterinarian (AV) and animal care personnel, no knowledge about EE, a job unrelated to animal research, and EE knowledge acquired through nonspecific channels.

The EE achievement group reported higher satisfaction with institutional financial support (4.09 ± 0.884 vs 3.32 ± 1.016) and human resource support (3.72 ± 1.066 vs 3.10 ± 1.067). This group also felt strongly that government support for laboratory animal research ethics education should be strengthened (4.32 ± 0.793 vs 4.18 ± 0.849). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that institutional financial support (OR, 2.014), need for government-supported education (OR, 1.447), presence of an AV (OR, 2.052), and acquiring EE knowledge through in-house training (OR, 3.163) had a positive effect on EE achievement.

Institutional financial and government-supported education, AV employment, and training programs are needed to realize EE in laboratory animals.

This study offers guidance for designing successful EE programs in laboratory animal research institutions.