By Amy Davis, JD, MPH.

This post is a follow up to our May 27, 2014 post on the topic of environmental enrichment of animals in research settings. After that post was published, PRIM&R received a letter from Allyson J. Bennett, PhD, chair of the Committee on Animal Research and Ethics at the American Psychological Association (APA), and Sangeeta Panicker, PhD, director of research ethics at the APA, expressing their disapproval of our treatment of the topic (read the letter from Drs. Bennett and Panicker). In the spirit of transparency and respectful dialog, PRIM&R has written this second post, which we believe is a more considered treatment of an important and complex issue. We thank Drs. Bennett and Panicker for their feedback and for prompting us to take this second look.