Animal Rights Policy

The purpose of this policy is to establish clear and comprehensive guidelines for the use of animals in research and it aims to ensure all research involving animals is conducted ethically and responsibly and adheres to the highest standards of animal welfare. The policy aims to ensure that all personnel involved in animal research are fully aware of their ethical and legal obligations and that the animals are treated with the utmost care and respect. Additionally, the policy aims to promote transparency and communication with stakeholders and the public about the company's use of animals in research.

PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES

  1. Animal Welfare

Any research involving animals must be conducted by the principles of the 3 R’s; reduction, refinement, and replacement. Researchers are responsible for reducing the number of animals used, refining experimental procedures to minimize animal suffering, and replacing animals with non-animal alternatives whenever possible.

  1. Responsibility for considering options (Replacement): Researchers must be able to account for the absence of options and the need to acquire knowledge immediately when justifying experiments on animals.
  2. Responsibility for reducing the number of animals (Reduction): Researchers must consider whether the reduction of several animals the experiments plan to use is possible by conducting literature studies, considering alternative experiment designs, and performing design calculations before beginning experiments.
  3. Responsibility for minimizing the risk of suffering and improving animal welfare (Refinement): In consideration for animal welfare, researchers must not only consider the direct suffering that may be endured during the experiment itself but also the risk of suffering before and after the experiment.
  1. Legal and Regulatory Compliance

The research complies with all relevant national and international laws and regulations governing the use of animals in research.

  1. Ethics Review

An ethical review of all research proposals involving the use of animals is mandatory.

  1. Animal Care and Use

The responsible authors will ensure all animals are housed, fed, and cared for per the highest standards of animal welfare. They will also ensure that animals are used only for scientific purposes that are justified and necessary.

  1. Maintaining Biological Diversity

Researchers are responsible for ensuring that the use of laboratory animals does not endanger biological diversity. This means the researcher must consider the consequences to stock and the ecosystem.