For over 60 years, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has been advocating for better care, handling and housing for animals in research. AWI furthers this goal by providing those in research laboratories with a variety of complimentary reference books; a subscription to the AWI Quarterly; membership in an online discussion group for laboratory personnel (the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum); and the opportunity to apply for grants to improve the housing and handling of animals in research.
AWI presses for greater protection of animals in laboratories in part through stronger enforcement of the federal Animal Welfare Act and extension of the law’s coverage to all animals subject to experimentation. We also work to promote advancements in species-appropriate enrichment for animals in research, retirement opportunities for former laboratory animals, and increased compliance with the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. We provide public comments, formal testimony, and presentations in support of our mission; examples can be found below.
- Comments to the US Fish and Wildlife Service opposing Yerkes application to export chimpanzees to the United Kingdom (February 2016)
- Supplemental Comments to USFWS on Status Review of the Split-Listing of Chimpanzees under the Endangered Species Act (January 2012)
- Comments to USFWS on Status Review of the Split-Listing of Chimpanzees under the Endangered Species Act (October 2011)
- Statement Before the Committee to Update the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (September 2008)
- Statement to the US Department of Agriculture in Support of Written Records of Veterinary Care (June 2003)
- Comments to the National Institutes of Health on Regulatory Burden (May 1999)