Out of This World NHP Housing

The biomedical research community across the country has a clear mandate and moral obligation to provide the most suitable, comfortable and enhanced animal housing units possible. These animal containment units must comply with research protocols and address animal care and management requirements and regulations. We utilize all resources on the use of animal models to design and produce state-of-the-art animal housing units.

Designs for basic caging and research equipment were formulated during the 1940s and 1950s with an emphasis on housing density, security and sanitization. The standards were based on the weight and size of the animal, not species-specific behavioral needs. At the time, a large percentage of the animal care staff had an agricultural background.

Over the past twenty years, the industry has experienced a shift in the workforce. Many of today's workers have a background in laboratory animal science and care. The science has also experienced changes in animal housing unit requirements that not only emphasize sanitization and security, but also the well-being of the animals and the ergonomic factors impacting the animal care staff.