Charles River and LAWTE Support Animal Welfare
June 24, 2011 - Charles River is committed to the humane care of the research animals produced and used in all of our activities. Our Humane Care Initiative (HCI) supports this core value. One of the most important aspects of our HCI is to ensure that we are promoting animal welfare and training not just internally, but within the scientific community as a whole. One of our key mechanisms to achieve this goal is to actively participate in national and international scientific meetings to make sure we both obtain and impart knowledge about best practices. On July 27-29, 2011, we are proud to be participating in this year’s Laboratory Animal Welfare and Training Exchange (LAWTE) Biennial Conference in San Antonio, TX.
This conference will support LAWTE’s core mission of being an information exchange among laboratory animal welfare trainers on training programs, systems, materials and services for the purpose of promoting the highest standards of laboratory animal care and use. At this year’s event, Elton Machholz, Manager of Learning & Development for Charles River Consulting and Staffing Services at our Germantown, MD facility and LAWTE’s 2011-2013 Secretary, will be presenting in both a pre-conference workshop and conference session:
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2011
Session 1: e-Learning Benefits & Challenges
Date: Friday, July 29, 2011
We will also be participating in the new vendor sessions with a presentation on Charles River training resources on Thursday, July 28, during the 11:00 am – 12:15 pm session. In addition, Charles River’s CHARTER (Commitment to Humane Animal Research Through Excellence and Responsibility) Program will be providing support for continuing education units through the RACE Program.
Goal of the Charles River Humane Care Initiative
The goal of the HCI is to ensure that Charles River continues as a worldwide leader in the humane care of laboratory animals. At Charles River, we work hand-in-hand with the scientific community to understand how living conditions, handling procedures, and stress play an important role in the quality and efficiency of research. As animal caregivers and researchers, we are not only responsible to our clients and the public for the health and well-being of the animals in our care, but we are also responsible to the animals themselves. Without these animals, we would not be able to support life-saving research. Therefore, we make it our personal responsibility to ensure that each and every animal involved at Charles River is humanely cared for and respected. The Charles River HCI is directed by our Animal Welfare and Training group. This group consists of professionals committed to animal welfare and trained in laboratory animal medicine and science, training and ethics.
Objectives of the Charles River Humane Care Initiative
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