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Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation (2025)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Ng, K. H., & Parker, M. (2025). Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation. Animal Cognition, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01979-6

Evidence increasingly reveals that non-human animals in monotonous situations can show boredom-like states, distinctively manifesting as increases in both arousal-seeking, restless behaviour and low arousal, drowsy behaviour. However, task related bo... Read More about Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: effects of sensory variation.

Effect of turnout rugs on the behaviour of horses under mild autumn conditions in the United Kingdom (2025)
Journal Article
Daw, F., Burn, C., Chang, Y.-M., & Nicol, C. (2025). Effect of turnout rugs on the behaviour of horses under mild autumn conditions in the United Kingdom. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106661

The use of rugs (blankets) for horses is commonplace as a protective measure to keep horses warm and dry in inclement weather, or to protect them from direct sunshine or insects under warmer conditions. However, rugs can also result in thermal or gen... Read More about Effect of turnout rugs on the behaviour of horses under mild autumn conditions in the United Kingdom.

Animal welfare risks from commercial practices involving cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans (2025)
Journal Article
Browning, H., Burn, C., Schnell, A., Crump, A., & Birch, J. (2025). Animal welfare risks from commercial practices involving cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans. Animal Welfare Journal, https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2025.25

There is increasing recognition that the welfare needs of cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans are important. Current commercial practices involving these animals include a range of potential threats to their welfare, such as conditions of far... Read More about Animal welfare risks from commercial practices involving cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans.

Dental disease in rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Clinical management and associated welfare impacts (2025)
Journal Article
Jackson, M., O'Neill, D., Hedley, J., Brodbelt, D., & Burn, C. (2025). Dental disease in rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Clinical management and associated welfare impacts. Veterinary Record, https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.5326

Background: Dental disease is painful and highly prevalent in companion rabbits, but current veterinary management techniques and clinical welfare implications are little described.
Methods: Anonymised VetCompass clinical records were manually revi... Read More about Dental disease in rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Clinical management and associated welfare impacts.

Rabbit dental abnormalities: Investigation of conformational risk factors in a pedigree rabbit population (2025)
Journal Article
Jackson, M., Betts, M., Hedley, J., & Burn, C. (2025). Rabbit dental abnormalities: Investigation of conformational risk factors in a pedigree rabbit population. Animals, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15070980

Lop-eared and brachycephalic conformations have inconsistently been associated with dental abnormalities in pet and rescue rabbit populations. We investigated conformational risk factors for dental abnormalities in a pedigree population where conform... Read More about Rabbit dental abnormalities: Investigation of conformational risk factors in a pedigree rabbit population.

Canine Separation-Related Behaviour at 6 months of Age: Dog, Owner and Early-Life Risk Factors Identified Using the ‘Generation Pup’ Longitudinal Study (2024)
Journal Article
Dale, F., Burn, C., Murray, J., & Casey, R. (2024). Canine Separation-Related Behaviour at 6 months of Age: Dog, Owner and Early-Life Risk Factors Identified Using the ‘Generation Pup’ Longitudinal Study. Animal Welfare Journal, 33, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2024.56

Separation-related behaviours (SRBs) in dogs (Canis familiaris) often indicate poor welfare. Understanding SRB risk factors can aid prevention strategies. We investigated whether early-life experiences and dog-owner interactions affect SRB developmen... Read More about Canine Separation-Related Behaviour at 6 months of Age: Dog, Owner and Early-Life Risk Factors Identified Using the ‘Generation Pup’ Longitudinal Study.

Development of the Brief Open Research Survey (BORS) to measure awareness and uptake of Open Research practices (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper
Norris, E., Clark, K., Munafò, M., Jay, C., Baldwin, J., Lautarescu, A., Pedder, H., Page, M., Rinke, E. M., Burn, C., Cawthorn, W., Ballou, N., Glover, S., Evans, S., Rossit, S., Soltanlou, M., Wise, E., Kelson, M., Soliman, N., Jones, A. J., …Pennington, C. Development of the Brief Open Research Survey (BORS) to measure awareness and uptake of Open Research practices

Objectives: Whilst the need for Open Research practices is well documented, there remains a lack of validated questionnaires to assess their prevalence. This study validated the Brief Open Research Survey (BORS) to measure Open Research awareness and... Read More about Development of the Brief Open Research Survey (BORS) to measure awareness and uptake of Open Research practices.

Dental disease in companion rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: frequency and risk factors (2024)
Journal Article
Jackson, M., Burn, C., Hedley, J., Brodbelt, D., & O'Neill, D. (2024). Dental disease in companion rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: frequency and risk factors. Veterinary Record, https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.3993

Background-
Some prior evidence has suggested rabbits with lop ear and brachycephalic skull conformations have higher dental disease risk. This retrospective cohort study reports the frequency and conformational risk factors for primary-care veterin... Read More about Dental disease in companion rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: frequency and risk factors.

Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses (2023)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Camacho, T., & Hockenhull, J. (2023). Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 268, Article 106077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2023.106077

Lifting mice by the tail is of animal welfare and scientific concern, but rat lifting methods are little researched, potentially differing from mice. Using an online questionnaire we explored different methods for lifting laboratory rats, alongside h... Read More about Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses.

Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK questionnaire survey of signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour (2023)
Journal Article
Chivers, B., Keeler, M., & Burn, C. (2023). Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK questionnaire survey of signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour. PLoS ONE, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285372

The impacts of ear disease on animal welfare and behaviour are little documented. Ear disease may be common in rabbits, but difficult to recognise, and lop-ears have previously been indicated as a risk factor for ear disease. We aimed to better under... Read More about Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK questionnaire survey of signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour.

Ear disease in pet rabbits: owner-reported data from a UK survey 2021-2022 (2023)
Data
Chivers, B., Keeler, M., & Burn, C. (in press). Ear disease in pet rabbits: owner-reported data from a UK survey 2021-2022. [Data]

Methods, analysis and interpretation of these data are published in
Chivers, B. D., Keeler, M. R. D., and Burn, C. C. (2023) Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK survey of owner-reported signalment risk... Read More about Ear disease in pet rabbits: owner-reported data from a UK survey 2021-2022.

Pet owner perception of ferret boredom and consequences for housing, husbandry, and environmental enrichment (2022)
Journal Article
Dancer, A., Diez Leon, M., Bizley, J., & Burn, C. (2022). Pet owner perception of ferret boredom and consequences for housing, husbandry, and environmental enrichment. Animals, 12(23), Article 3262. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12233262

Boredom is a potential chronic but overlooked animal welfare problem. Caused by monotony, sub-optimal stimulation, and restrictive housing, boredom can therefore affect companion animals, particularly those traditionally caged, such as ferrets. We su... Read More about Pet owner perception of ferret boredom and consequences for housing, husbandry, and environmental enrichment.

Invertebrate sentience and sustainable seafood (2022)
Journal Article
Crump, A., Browning, H., Schnell, A. K., Burn, C., & Birch, J. (2022). Invertebrate sentience and sustainable seafood. Nature Food, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00632-6

Octopuses, crabs and lobsters are probably sentient, yet their welfare needs are poorly protected in the food system. Upholding animal welfare in the seafood industry presents challenges and more research is needed to address humane capture, housing... Read More about Invertebrate sentience and sustainable seafood.

Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience 32(1) (2022)
Journal Article
Crump, A., Browning, H., Schnell, A., Burn, C., & Birch, J. (2022). Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience 32(1). Animal Sentience, 32, Article 407. https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1691

We outline a framework for evaluating scientific evidence of sentience, focusing on pain experience. It includes eight neural and cognitive-behavioural criteria, with confidence levels for each criterion reflecting the reliability and quality of the... Read More about Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience 32(1).

Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey (2022)
Journal Article
Dancer, A. M., Díez-León, M., Bizley, J. K., & Burn, C. C. (2022). Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey. Animals, 12, Article 1065. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091065

Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) are kept and used in multiple sectors of society, but little is known about how they are housed and what environmental enrichment (EE) they may benefit from. We aimed to help guide caretakers about what housing and EE... Read More about Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey.

A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., & Popat, R. (2021). A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel. Animal Technology and Welfare, 20, 203-210

Mouse shelters can provide mice with security, help them thermoregulate, offer darkness to prevent damage to their eyes and enable climbing and gnawing opportunities. For laboratory mice, there is a vast array of commercially available cage furniture... Read More about A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel.

The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Mazlan, N.-H., Chancellor, N., & Wells, D. (2021). The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic. Animals, 11, Article 1664. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061664

Identification marking mice commonly involves ear-punching with or without anaesthetic, or tail-marking with ink. To identify which is most humane, we marked male BALB/c mice using ear-punching (EP), ear-punching with anaesthetic EMLATM cream (EP+A),... Read More about The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic.

Handling mice using gloves sprayed with alcohol-based hand sanitiser: acute effects on mouse behaviour (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Lopez Salesansky, N., Wells, D., Whitfield, L., & Chancellor, N. (2021). Handling mice using gloves sprayed with alcohol-based hand sanitiser: acute effects on mouse behaviour. Animal Technology and Welfare, 20, 11-20

Alcohols are commonly used in laboratory animal facilities to disinfect hands, equipment and laboratory environments. The effect on mice is unknown, so we observed male and female C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice during and after handling with nitrile gloves... Read More about Handling mice using gloves sprayed with alcohol-based hand sanitiser: acute effects on mouse behaviour.

Does Providing Hiding Spaces for Zebrafish in Large Groups Reduce Aggressive Behaviour? (2020)
Journal Article
Czeszyk, A., Burn, C., & Russell, C. (in press). Does Providing Hiding Spaces for Zebrafish in Large Groups Reduce Aggressive Behaviour?. The Journal of Young Investigators, 38(5), 43-56. https://doi.org/10.22186/jyi.38.5.43-56

There are extensive studies investigating the effects of enrichment on the welfare and behaviour of commonly used laboratory animals. However, when it comes to zebrafish, Danio rerio, there is limited knowledge available regarding what type of enrich... Read More about Does Providing Hiding Spaces for Zebrafish in Large Groups Reduce Aggressive Behaviour?.