TiHo Hannover: Animal Protection Day and new research prize for animal welfare!

TiHo Hannover: Animal Protection Day and new research prize for animal welfare!

The first Animal Welfare Day will take place at the Hannover Veterinary University Foundation (TiHo) on April 24, 2025. This important event aims to showcase relevant research projects and developments in the field of animal welfare. Various presentation formats will be offered on this day, including lectures and poster presentations. During the event, participants will gain insights into TiHo's current research fields, which include, among other things, monitoring the release of wild animals and training sniffer dogs to detect corona infections.

Particularly highlighted is the development of miniature artificial intestines from pig tissue, an innovative project that has the potential to replace animal testing in research. The guest speaker will be Dr. Julia Pfeiffer-Schlichting, Lower Saxony's state animal protection officer, will be invited to contribute her perspectives and experiences. In this context, the topics of the presentations are specifically aimed at projects to improve animal welfare and replace animal testing, underlining the relevance of animal welfare in today's science. TiHo Hanover reports that Animal Welfare Day will provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and innovations.

Animal Welfare Research Prize 2025

In addition, the newly designed Animal Welfare Research Prize of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) will be awarded on April 22, 2025. This award supports the research and development of alternative and replacement methods to animal testing. The main prize is worth 100,000 euros, while the society prize is worth 20,000 euros. This year the award went to Prof. Dr. Hans Clevers from the Hubrecht Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his groundbreaking work with organoids in biomedical research and the organization Norecopa, represented by Prof. Dr. Adrian Smith, for her social commitment.

Organoid research has the potential to significantly reduce and partially replace animal testing. Prof. Clevers and his team recently developed a method for the unlimited proliferation of stem cells and the cultivation of organoids, which enables significant advances in the field of biomedical research. Norecopa, a project launched by the Norwegian government, science and animal welfare organizations, provides extensive information on the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement).

Germany's contribution to animal welfare research

The federal government is actively committed to the development of alternative methods to animal testing. The measures include the German Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R) at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and research funding from the BfR. A “reduction strategy for animal testing” is also being developed to improve the efficiency of research and intensify animal protection measures. Germany is therefore making a significant contribution to the research and development of alternative methods within the European Union, which becomes particularly visible during Animal Protection Day and the award ceremony. BMEL emphasizes that the 3R principle serves as a guideline for greater animal protection in research.