Animal-centric Care and Management

Animal-Centric Care and Management by Dorte Bratbo Sorensen, Sylvie Cloutier and Brianna Gaskill is a book that will easily fit into any library for training in animal science. It does a convincing job arguing for a new culture in animal science where researchers and caregivers cooperate to adjust experimental conditions to a species rather than require a species to adapt to the study conditions. It is suitable for any stakeholder working with live animals in science. The content is helpful to new personnel in the field, but also for experienced personnel, especially decision makers for equipment purchases, facility design, standard operating procedure review and development, or protocol reviews. It is my position that a manager would do well to have all their staff read this book... Animal welfare in the years ahead will hopefully be characterized with the quote we can aim at well-being rather than the absence of distress . This book will help get us there. I hope the current and subsequent generation of animal users look back and wonder how we could have done this work without that perspective. In short, please thoroughly digest this book; you and the animals you work with will be better off for it. Jason Allen, CALAS-ACSAL Member's Magazine, VOL 54, NO 5 * SPRING 2021 The essence of this book is to go beyond the notion of the 3Rs principles as originally described by Russell and Burch (1959), viewing these as a collection of ethical ideals not only to be adhered to, but to be further developed in all circumstances where animals are at risk of suffering... Animal-centric Care and Management is a book that generally strikes an excellent balance between the provision of detailed recommendations concerning methods of welfare enhancement without relying too heavily on the readers prior knowledge of the basic concepts. Johnny Roughan, University of Newcastle, UK in The UFAW Journal - Animal Welfare, Volume 31, Issue 1, February 2022 By introducing innovative and advanced ways of housing and caring for laboratory animals, this long-overdue book enables a much needed shift in animal research from a culture of exploitation to a culture of care, where research animals are treated as patients rather than mere measuring devices. Prof. Dr. Hanno Wurbel, Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern The book is comprehensive, well- written and exceedingly well laid out. The principles of Animal-centric care and management may sound a new idea but for many animal care staff it is what we have been doing for many years, although there is always room for new ideas. However, the concept of designing experiments studies to consider the animals needs first rather than the scientific needs is something is entirely new. Although only the common animals are covered, the principles are applicable to all species used in research, although some in depth knowledge of some of the more unusual species needs to be acquired. I commend this book to you and would recommend that it is made available to all staff from the most junior technician to the head of teams using animals in research. Dr. Jas Barley, April 2021, Animal Technology and Welfare journal (IAT) The style of writing throughout the book is engaging and encourages personal reflection of current animal behaviour and human interaction beliefs, knowledge and working practices within the laboratory animal field. Noteworthy chapters, for me, included the first four chapters of the book, these were probably the broadest in content (hence the appeal) and looked at human-animal bonds, the culture of care (currently a hot topic within the laboratory animal science sector), animal emotions and abnormal animal behaviours. It is surprising that so few animal husbandry management books have dedicated chapters to these important subjects previously and perhaps this new approach will become the norm in education, training and developing a greater understanding of our interactions with laboratory animals over future years. It is hoped that readers will champion changes in management of laboratory species that are focussed on the animals, their needs and their welfare, resulting in an increased awareness of an animal-centric culture. Angela Kerton, The Learning Curve (Development) Ltd., LASA Chair of the Scientific Programme, in LASA Forum Summer 2021