Strategic Initiatives on Animal Welfare Challenges in Research and Education on Wildlife, Non-Model Species and Biodiversity

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The responsible and thoughtful care and use of animal in research, testing, training, and education is important from a moral and ethical point of view, as well as for the collection of high-quality, replicable data. The mission of ILAR is to identify, develop, promote, and disseminate strategies and practices that provide for excellence in the welfare of animals in academic or industry research, training, and education. This award serves to provide renewed support for core mechanisms through which ILAR accomplishes its mission. ILAR developed and continues to update the "Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals", a document that is the basis for governmental regulations on animal care and use in research and education, and that sets performances standards and best practices in animal care and use worldwide. ILAR also produces reports that provide the basis of guidelines and policy development for the care and use of animals in specific research domains. Further, ILAR oversees the content of the ILAR Journal, and ILAR is responsible for the ILAR Roundtable on Science and Welfare in Laboratory Animal Use, which organizes workshops on timely animal welfare-related issues of interest to research communities as well as government, industry, and professional societies, and whose outcomes ILAR disseminates worldwide. Additionally, through its role as a collaborating center for laboratory animal science and welfare of the World Animal Health Organization, ILAR influences animal welfare awareness and best practices in laboratory animal medicine and science worldwide. ILAR operations are carried out by ILAR staff working under the oversight of ILAR Council, which includes representatives from academia, industry, biomedical and wildlife research, veterinarian medicine, and safety and regulatory affairs. The specific ILAR activities supported through this award include listening sessions, workshops, and similar activities in preparation for revision of the “Guide”, so that the next edition of this crucial document covers a broader scope, one that also includes informed guidelines, standards, and ethical and welfare concerns for non-traditional research animals, wildlife, research in the field and other non-laboratory settings, and research using a wider range of approaches than traditionally employed in laboratory settings. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.