ANIMAL WELFARE
The welfare of animals used in research is of paramount importance. It should be closely monitored for ethical reasons to avoid, and where this is not possible, minimise distress such as pain and suffering. This is our moral duty as human beings and as researchers. The law imposes obligations on us with regard to monitoring animal welfare. In addition to the ethical and legal provisions, animal welfare is also of scientific importance: after all, it is an essential condition for obtaining relevant and reliable research results.
In addition to the Animal Ethics Committee, a research institution must also establish an animal welfare cell. This animal welfare cell supervises the welfare of the laboratory animals. At the Free University of Brussels, the animal welfare cell is an umbrella body composed of representatives of all laboratories working with laboratory animals and chaired by a chairman, a vice-chairman and a secretary. Each laboratory should delegate at least two people who are specifically committed to animal welfare within their own group: at least one person responsible for the care of the laboratory animals and at least one experiment leader who sets up the experiments. The animal welfare cell is supervised in its tasks by the competent veterinarian and the quality officer. The members meet regularly, sharing new insights and implementing new legal obligations. Within this cell, the availability of organs and tissues from past experiments is also reported. This way, these can be shared between different researchers and research laboratories to reduce the number of laboratory animals. The chairman and vice-chairman of the animal welfare cell also sit on the animal ethics committee of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. In doing so, they help monitor and evaluate animal welfare before, during and after each project.
The animal welfare cell makes recommendations on the housing, breeding and daily care of laboratory animals. It also has an important advisory and monitoring role in experimental procedures. To this end, the animal welfare cell draws up standard protocols in consultation with all stakeholders, where refinement methods are realised as far as possible. In carrying out its mission, the animal welfare unit always checks whether the 3Rs principle (replacement, reduction and refinement) is applied and organises the necessary training around this principle. When animals can be released for adoption at the end of an experiment, the unit gives advice on this.
As stipulated by law, the animal welfare cell performs at least the following tasks:
Providing advice to staff handling the experimental animals regarding animal welfare in connection with acquisition, housing
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