About the event
Founded in 2001, TALAS is an association of individuals and institutions working with and caring for laboratory animals in Thailand. This event therefore provided us with a crucial platform to directly engage with those working with laboratory animals and to promote practical opportunities for improving animal welfare and reducing suffering. This included our Roadmap approach to reducing and avoiding ‘severe’ suffering, which can also be used to implement refinements at other levels of severity.
Summary
Our well-received presentations tackled the topical issues of achieving a good ‘Culture of Care’ and addressing ‘compassion fatigue’, as well as the implementation of refinement strategies using a four-step approach: determining what is ‘normal’, identifying potential sources of suffering, finding ways to reduce or avoid suffering, and assessing welfare. The presentation emphasised that refinement is a continuous process, not a one-off task, and even small improvements can lead to better animal welfare and significant scientific benefits.