Health and Medicine
A new home for lab rats
It is the first so-called rehoming project at the University of Bern: 30 rats from animal experiments have been handed over to the Swiss Animal Protection STS and its section, the Swiss Rat Friends Club.
It was a double premiere: for the first time, an introductory course on laboratory animal science was held for researchers who work with animals, in which mice and rats were used for training purposes. Following this, rats were handed over to animal welfare organizations for the first time - another first - so that they could be given to private animal lovers and thus into a new home. The course and the subsequent rehoming of the rats involved are in line with the "Culture of Care" at the University of Bern, which emphasizes responsibility towards animals and those who work with them. The University of Bern has committed itself to implementing this culture: this year it signed the "Culture of Care Charter" of the Swiss Competence Center for the Reduction, Refinement or Replacement of Animal Experiments: the "3R" principles. The charter comprises steps and measures for the active implementation of the Culture of Care in daily research activities.