Ethical guidelines of the DPZ

Guidelines for the responsible interaction with animals at the German Primate Center

Preamble

These guidelines are based on the recognition that when solving biomedical questions, humans cannot do without scientific research on animals, while at the same time, the ethical principle of respect for life requires them to protect animals. This is especially applicable to non-human primates, whose evolutionary proximity to humans allows the knowledge gained from them to be transferred to humans particularly well, but whose use in research must also meet particularly high ethical requirements. Against this background and well aware of its special role as a competence and reference center, the German Primate Center (DPZ) has developed these guidelines that are binding for all employees at the DPZ and all others who work for the DPZ.

1. Legal basis

1.1 The German Animal Welfare Act (§§ 7 - 11 TierSchG) with the Animal Welfare Experimental Animal Ordinance and the EU Directive (2010/63/EU) on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes regulate, among others, the approval procedures, performance and monitoring of animal experiments. They state that animal experiments can only be approved by the competent authority if they are indispensable. This means that the expected findings from the planned research project cannot be obtained using methods that do not involve animal experiments and are so significant that they justify the use of animals. Experiments involving non-human primates are subject to higher requirements than experiments involving other vertebrates and than the handling of animals in other social areas.
1.2 When working with wild animals in the context of field research, all participants are legally bound by the laws of the respective countries, but DPZ employees are also bound by these guidelines on the responsible treatment of animals. In addition, the DPZ Animal Welfare Committee can draw up an ethical statement on such research projects in accordance with the German Animal Welfare Act and EU Directive 2010/63/EU. 
1.3 These legal regulations represent the minimum requirements. The employees of the DPZ and all others working for the DPZ are obligated to familiarize themselves with the legal requirements, to continuously update this knowledge and to adhere to these guidelines. The DPZ supports this through a range of training and further education for those involved.

2. Ethical principles

Insofar as they are transferable to humans, they also serve to protect human life and alleviate suffering. However, the right to implement animals as testing subjects is coupled with the obligation to keep the stress on test animals as low as possible. The DPZ is committed to its dual responsibility of considering the welfare of animals on the one hand and the right to gain knowledge and the obligation to fulfill human protection requirements on the other.

3. Ethical requirements for the responsible interaction with animals

3.1 All persons involved in animal experiments or otherwise entrusted with the animals of the DPZ have the duty to ensure their welfare and to avoid any unnecessary suffering of the animals. The decisive requirements are their expertise as well as their declared willingness to take responsibility for the experimental and breeding animals and to respect, protect and care for them. The employees of the DPZ are aware that they have an exemplary function due to the role of the DPZ as a center of expertise and reference.
3.2 The ethical principle of respect for life leads to the requirement to achieve the greatest possible gain in knowledge with as few animals as possible and with as little suffering for the animals as possible. All persons involved with animals in experiments are obliged to adhere to the 3R principle (Refine, Reduce, Replace). This means that they review and develop their experimental and statistical methods in order to minimize the number of animals, the burden on animals, and use alternative and supplementary methods whenever possible. The cooperation of a wide range of  expertise in the various research areas of the DPZ as well as the diverse investigation and research facilities (including imaging techniques, tissue banks, hormone laboratory, veterinary medicine with pathology, safety laboratories, field stations) enables the reduction of the number of animals and their stress in experiments as well as to achieve particularly high standards and improve animal testing conditions. Knowledge gained from research at the DPZ on the living conditions, anatomy and physiology as well as the behavior, cognitive performance and the diseases of non-human primates is used to better assess and avoid stress on animals in research. The development of alternative and complimentary methods to animal experimentation is explicitly promoted and supported at the DPZ. The DPZ adds a fourth R to the 3R principle: Responsibility, which implies taking personal responsibility for the entrusted laboratory animals and the safeguarding of good scientific practice.
3.3 The DPZ also sees it as its responsibility to report transparently and regularly to the public on procedures and findings in animal research and 4R activities, in providing advice and in publishing research results concerning animal welfare and veterinary medicine.
3.4 The DPZ predominantly breeds monkeys required for academic research in Germany in its own facilities in Göttingen. It uses its special expertise and resources in dealing with non-human primates for the welfare of the animals and for species conservation. On the one hand in-house breeding minimizes stressful animal imports from abroad and on the other hand the wide range of information and knowledge of the kinship and background of each individual means that fewer animals are needed in the experiments. 

4. Responsibilities when handling animals

4.1 The primary investigator bears the overall scientific and legal responsibility for the justification, planning and performance of animal experiments. They are responsible for ensuring that both the legal provisions and these guidelines are followed. The primary investigator supports the other persons involved in the animal experiment project i.e. in the acquisition of expertise and their further training. They promote the development and application of methods in accordance with the 3Rs principle and the safeguarding of good scientific practice in accordance with the relevant DPZ guideline. When handling the test animals within the scope of the animal testing project, they support the use of findings from behavioral researchin order to reduce or completely avoid pain, suffering, or harm in accordance with these guidelines.
4.2 Everyone involved in an animal experiment bears responsibility in particular for their handling of the test animals and their acquisition of expertise and further training, as well as the application of the 3Rs principle and ensuring good scientific practice. This also includes supporting others involved in the animal experiment to implement these guidelines. When important decisions related to the welfare of the animals are to be taken, the persons involved in animal experiments consult with the veterinarians of the animal husbandry and the animal welfare officer to strive for joint decisions.
4.3 The veterinarians in charge of the animal husbandry are responsible for the medical care of the animals at the DPZ. The spectrum covers all veterinary areas from the care of minor ailments to major operations. In addition, the veterinarians advise those involved in an animal experiment project on the implementation of the project.
4.4 The animal keepers are responsible for the daily care and observation of the animals. Through regular training and further education, the DPZ ensures that the animal keepers are competent, skilled and capable of caring for the animals and that difficulties in the social structure of the animal groups or disease-related behavior are reliably identified. If animal keepers suspect a case of illness or suffering, they will immediately inform a veterinarian as well as those responsible for the animal within the framework of the animal experiment project.
4.5 The animal welfare officers have central tasks in the internal quality assurance and control of animal experiments. They are independent in the performance of their duties. They are the mediator between animal welfare and animal experiments, between authorities and scientific institutions, between legal requirements and researchers who conduct animal experiments. Internally, they work towards the development and introduction of procedures to avoid or improve animal experiments and guide employees to act in accordance with animal welfare.
4.6 The animal welfare committee supports and advises the animal protection officers in their tasks. In addition, the animal welfare committee advises researchers on the drafting and the application of animal experiments and monitors the development and results of animal experiment projects, taking into account the effects on the animals. It is responsible for defining internal work procedures that concern the monitoring of animal welfare and in-house quality assurance.
4.7 All DPZ employees are encouraged to voice concerns or questions on the handling of animals at the DPZ or the implementation of this policy. Possible contact persons are supervisors, those responsible for animal experiments, animal welfare officers or the DPZ management. The DPZ has also appointed an external ombudsperson for animal welfare issues. Should conflicts, concerns, questions or problems arise that cannot be resolved within the DPZ, employees can contact this ombudsperson in a trusting and confidential manner.
4.8 Animal experiments, especially with non-human primates, are controversially discussed in public. The DPZ supports its employees in communicating competently, fact-based, openly and transparently about animal experiments and in getting involved in the social debate.
4.9 As a center of competence and reference, the German Primate Center acknowleges its task in the field of animals handling, laws, regulations, guidelines, etc., as well as its own ethical principles and guidelines, taking into account the respective state of scientific knowledge, to check for adequacy, applicability, up-to-dateness and usefulness, as well as to inform and advise.
4.10 The management and heads of departments at the DPZ support a culture of open criticism and communication as a basis to continually improve these guidelines.