July 2000 News

Dutch university establishes center for the study of animals and society

July 25, 2000

The Netherlands has long been a progressive country in its concern for animal welfare, with stringent laws to protect animals used in research and perhaps the best training program in the world for those who use and care for laboratory animals. Now, in an effort to put more scientific weight behind these ethical concerns, the faculty of veterinary sciences at Utrecht University has established a new Scientific Centre for Animal and Society.

The Centre's mission is "to signal, study, advise, and inform about social concerns in relation to keeping and using animals." This mission covers farm animals, laboratory animals, and the animals we breed and keep as pets.

Separating out our own human interests from our understanding of animal welfare can be notoriously difficult. One of the Centre's primary goals is to help draw this distinction--to look at welfare from the animal's point of view, in so far as possible. A major research effort, then will focus on the assessment of welfare in objective biological terms: what do animals actually perceive and experience?

Additional aspects of animal welfare the Centre will address include legislation, ethics, scientific needs related to solving human and animal health problems, practical and emotional needs relating to pets and animal husbandry, and the emotional concerns of the society.

The Centre will draw upon the expertise of a variety of Dutch organizations. These include the Animal Welfare Centre, the Netherlands Centre Alternatives to Animal Use, the Department of Animals and Legislation, the Department of Laboratory Animal Sciences, the Department of Human-Animal Relationships, and the Department of Lab Animal Issues.

Participants in the new center will take part in public discussion, policymaking, legislation, and studies related to animal welfare.

For more information contact:

Scientific Centre for Animal & Society
Faculty of Veterinary Sciences
Utrecht University
Yalelaan 17
3584 CL Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel: *31 30 253 2186/2615
Fax: *31 253 9229
E-mail: e.i.box@las.vet.uu.nl