Animal welfare at the DPZ
All persons involved in animal experiments or otherwise entrusted with the animals of the DPZ have the duty to care for the welfare and avoid any unnecessary suffering of the animals. The decisive condition is their expert knowledge as well as their declared willingness to assume responsibility towards the experimental and breeding animals and to respect, protect and care for them. The employees of the DPZ are aware that they have a role model function due to the role of the DPZ as a competence and reference center.
According to § 8b article 3 of the animal welfare law in its current version the animal welfare commissioner has to:
- watch the compliance with regulations, conditions and requirements on behalf of animal welfare,
- advise the facility and the persons concerned with animal experiments and husbandry,
- comment on any application for approval of an animal experiment,
- work internally towards the development and introduction of procedures and means for the prevention and limitation of animal experiments (reduction, refinement, replacement).
Ombudsperson for Animal Welfare
All employees of the DPZ are encouraged to articulate concerns or questions about the handling of animals at the DPZ. Possible contact persons are superiors, persons responsible for animal experiments, animal welfare officers or the management. However, the DPZ has also appointed an external ombudsperson for the topic of animal welfare. If conflicts, concerns, questions or problems arise that cannot be resolved within the DPZ, all employees can contact this ombudsperson confidentially and in confidence. Contact details can be found on the DPZ internal website.
English iBook on primates in medical research now online
A new, free iBook titled "Primates in Medical Research" is now available via iTunes and as download. The book was written by primate veterinarian Moshe Bushmitz and experts from Understanding Animal Research and focuses on the following questions: How do researchers work with primates? Which species do they use? What has research with primates revealed? How are the primates looked after?
Making full use of the iBook's capability to show video, images and sound, it shows the vital role of primates in medical research. The iBook features recent video clips recorded in primate research and breeding facilities in the UK, US and Israel. Its galleries include over 80 images of primates that illustrate the iBook's 71 pages, along with archive material and a timeline showing medical advances with primates stretching back a century. The iBook can be viewed on iPads, iPhones and on mac computers. A PDF version (no multimedia) can be downloaded from our website here.