Social Housing of Postoperative Animals to Support Animal Welfare

Single housing of animals, or social isolation, is a known stressor for many species. Generally, laboratory animals are housed in social groups as a default to support their behavioral welfare. In some research protocols, investigators may request exemptions from social housing policies after surgical procedures due to concerns that cohoused animals may damage implanted devices, remove each other's wound closures, or cause other stress or injury that may interfere with the study. However, the practice of singly housing postoperative animals may result in greater stress for animals and unintended consequences for research being conducted. Therefore, the IACUC or relevant ethical body should judiciously consider any request for single housing and require adequate justification for making this exception. This review discusses the social nature of some common research animals, the research effects of single housing, the regulatory requirements for social housing, and successful cases of socially housing postoperative and/or instrumented animals in the research setting with the goal of promoting social housing of postoperative animals.