Changing Human Behavior to Improve Animal Welfare: A Longitudinal Investigation of Training Laboratory Animal Personnel about Heterospecific Play or “Rat Tickling”

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 8; p. 1435
• Main Authors: LaFollette, Megan R., Cloutier, Sylvie, Brady, Colleen M., O’Haire, Marguerite E., Gaskill, Brianna N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-08-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal welfare; Behavior; Behavioral biology; Biological research; Biology, Experimental; Familiarity; heterospecific play; human-animal interaction; Human-animal relationships; Internet; Laboratory animals; laboratory rats; Online instruction; Polls & surveys; rat tickling; Rats; Rattus; Researchers; theory of planned behavior; Training; Workshops
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani10081435

Despite evidence for rat tickling’s animal welfare benefits, the technique is rarely implemented in part because of a lack of training. This study’s purpose was to determine the efficacy of online-only or online + hands-on training programs on key outcomes for rat tickling in comparison to a waitlist control condition. After completing a baseline survey, laboratory animal personnel currently working with rats in the United States were semi-randomized to receive online-only training (n = 30), online + hands-on training (n = 34), or waitlist control (n = 32). Participants received further surveys directly after training and 2 months later. Data were analyzed using general linear mixed models. At the 2-month follow-up compared to baseline, both training groups reported increased implementation, self-efficacy, knowledge, and familiarity of rat tickling while only the online + hands-on training participants reported increased control beliefs (while the waitlist group stayed the same). At the 2-month follow-up compared to the waitlist, hands-on training participants reported increased self-efficacy and familiarity with rat tickling. Overall, findings show that both online-only and online + hands-on training can improve key outcomes for rat tickling. Although online + hands-on training is slightly more effective, the interactive online-only training has the potential to improve widescale implementation of a welfare-enhancing technique.