Animal welfare at the FLI

Animal welfare means taking over the high responsibility for the welfare of experimental animals. Specifically trained veterinarians and animal caretakers at FLI ensure that the living conditions of our animals are appropriate for each species; this means the well-being of the animals is the main aspect of our work. Animal experiments are only carried out when it is unavoidable, i.e. when there is no other possibility to obtain new important findings. This is the case if no other method such as cell cultures or computer models - so-called alternative methods exist to get the research results.

Animal welfare at FLI includes that laboratory animals experience as little pain or suffering as possible in an experiment, e.g. through veterinary care with painkillers. The interventions on our animals are carried out according to established veterinary procedures and techniques and only by competent scientists. Animal welfare officers, usually veterinarians, advises and accompanies the animal experimental work. An animal welfare officer checks very carefully that no animal is unnecessarily taken into an experiment and that no animal suffers unnecessarily. At FLI, the use of alternative methods helps to avoid animal experiments because individual questions can already be answered outside an organism. At present, it is not possible to replace all biomedical experiments in animals. These are often performed to investigate diseases such as cancer, diabetes mellitus or hereditary diseases (e.g. Muscular dystrophy), which are based on very complex biological processes.

The living and husbandry conditions of the laboratory animals at FLI are based on the principle of animal welfare. Trained animal caretakers take care of our animals. Each head animal facility is lead and supervised by a head of animal facility; at FLI there are the two facilities mouse and fish. In cooperation with the institute's veterinarians, they ensure husbandry conditions, according to the species-specific animal welfare requirements (nesting, climbing). All scientists and staff members who work in the field of animal experiments are trained in laboratory animal science.

To protect laboratory animals, animal experiments in Germany are subject to strict regulations. Each animal experiment application undergoes a multi-stage approval procedure, which follows the globally valid 3Rs principle. An animal welfare officer appointed at FLI and, in the second step, the authority together with a supporting commission examines the application. They review the scientific necessity/indispensability of the animal experiment due to the lack of alternative methods and the ethical justifiability in relation to the basic right of each animal to remain unharmed. Furthermore, the competent authority examines if the expected suffering of an animal in the animal experiment is as low as possible and the plausibility of the necessity of the number of experimental animals used.