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).
New: 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.
Contact
Dr. Tamara Becker Animal Welfare Officer +49 551 3851-371 Contact
Dr. Sabine Samolovac Animal Welfare Officer +49 551 3851-182 Contact
Dr. Annette Schrod Animal Welfare Officer +49 551 3851-240 Contact
Dr. Christiane Stahl-Hennig Animal Welfare Officer +49 551 3851-154 +49 551 3851-288 Contact
Further information
Neuroscientific societies on the importance of non-human primates in biomedical science
Neuroscientific Societies FENS (Federation of European Neuroscience Societies) and SfN (Society for Neuroscience) published a statement on the importance of non-human primates in biomedical science on October 10th. The societies therein criticize and deplore illegally recorded videosequences from the primate husbandry of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, which have been braodcasted in "Stern TV". You can find the statement here (English).