Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF)

About LAREF

The electronic discussion forum is intended to serve the international animal care community in its attempt to promote animal welfare and improve scientific methodology by avoiding or eliminating husbandry-related stress situations.

How to Join the Forum

The forum is open to animal care personnel, animal technicians, students, attending veterinarians and researchers who have or had first-hand experience in the care of animals kept in laboratories. If you wish to join the group, please send a message to Joanna Makowska (joannam@awionline.org) indicating your:

• name,
• professional affiliation,
• professional experience with animals in research (your role, the species you work with, and the number of years of experience),
• professional interests as they pertain to this discussion group.

Requests to join this group will not be approved unless you have emailed Joanna with the required information. 

Forum Guidelines

This forum is intended for discussions related to LAREF’s mission, not as a bulletin board. If you wish to share information about a relevant survey, conference, workshop, or job opening, you must first email Joanna (joannam@awionline.org) to seek permission. Permission will be granted on a case-by-case basis. 

LAREF Books

Featured Content

Five Volume LAREF Series of Books

View Series in Resource Catalogue

LAREF in AWI Quarterly

LAREF in Journal or Newsletter Articles

Read the following LAREF-related journal and newsletters articles in AWI’s Refinement Database:

• Enforced restraint of rodents
  Animal Technology and Welfare 6, 11-13, 2007
• Stress and distress
  Animal Technology and Welfare 5, 99-102, 2006
• Human-animal relationship in the research lab
  Animal Technology and Welfare 5, 95-98, 2006
• Is a swimming pool safe for macaques?
  Laboratory Primate Newsletter 45(3), 13, 2006
• Pair formation and reintroduction of temporarily separated partners
  Laboratory Primate Newsletter 45(1), 11-12, 2006
• Do mice benefit from prefabricated dwellings?
  Animal Technology and Welfare 5, 13-15, 2006
• Postsurgical pairing
  Animal Technology and Welfare 5, 17-19, 2006
• Pole-and-collar training of macaques
  Animal Technology and Welfare 4, 157-161, 2005
• Collecting blood from rodents
  Animal Technology and Welfare 4, 99-102, 2005
• Catching animals who have escaped from their primary enclosure
  Animal Technology and Welfare 4(1), 41-44, 2005
• Stereotypical behavior
  Laboratory Primate Newsletter 43(4), 3-4, 2004
• Self-injurious biting in laboratory animals
  Laboratory Primate Newsletter 43(2), 11-13, 2004
• Enrichment for owl monkeys
  Laboratory Primate Newsletter 43(2), 10, 2004
• Working with pound dogs in the research laboratory
  Animal Technology and Welfare 3, 165-167, 2004
• Environmental enrichment for guinea pigs
  Animal Technology and Welfare 3, 161-163, 2004
• Water leakage in rodent cages
  Animal Technology and Welfare 3, 111-114, 2004
• Personnel/animal relationships: Affectionate or neutral?
  Laboratory Primate Newsletter 42(1), 14-15, 2003