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Animal ethic and welfare

“The use of animals for scientific purposes has been, and still is, necessary today, not only to improve human and animal health, but also for fundamental and agronomic research, and to preserve species and the environment. But it is not without ethical questioning and constant efforts to find reliable alternative methods. INRAE, as all research establishments, rigorously applies French regulations, itself derived from European regulations, which provide a strict framework for animal experimentation. The Institute also participates in national inter-institute structures in this field and in the project to create a French Center dedicated to this issue, following the example of those existing in several European countries.”

Respect for animal welfare is a major requirement of the P3R's experimental approach, as a user establishment for animal experimentation. Like all animal experimentation sites, the P3R is bound by the 3Rs principle:

  • Reduction: minimize the number of animals used in experiments.
  • Replacement: whenever possible, replace animal models with in vitro or in silico models.
  • Refinement: to put in place all the solutions needed to reduce, eliminate or alleviate the pain and distress of animals following experimental procedures. 

P3R has an animal welfare structure that brings together unit staff and user researchers, to continuously improve practices (replacement of blood sampling, gentle restraint devices). With the support of the Centre Val de Loire, P3R is committed to reusing experimental animals.

P3R takes a proactive approach to improving the well-being of farm animals, outside of experimentation. Our teams frequently suggest new ways of enriching the lives of our animals. The usefulness of these devices is assessed through behavioral observation. P3R farms are equipped with rotating brushes, chew toys, sliding chains, climbing tables, scratching mats, seesaws and balls.

montage enrichissements.jpg

INRAE (https://www.inrae.fr/nous-connaitre/institut-responsable/inrae-institut-responsable-matiere-dexperimentation-animale).

 

By: hlagarde Publication date: 19 February 2021 Modification date: 14 October 2025