Dissemination Grant Report – Nuno H. Franco

I was fortunate to have the opportunity of presenting COST Action TEATIME and the benefits of Home-Cage Monitoring on my aptly titled talk “Animal welfare and 3Rs advantages of home-cage monitoring systems”, at the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, in Niagara Falls, Canada.

In this talk I covered how HCM it can improve animal welfare through non-invasive monitoring and allow for early signs of poor welfare of disease to be detected automatically, as well as the scientific benefits of studying undisturbed animals 24/7, and how it could also benefit reduction of animal numbers.

The talk was integrated in the well-attended session “21st century Animal Welfare Assessment” and was well received by peers, some of which showed interest in joining TEATIME, at the end of the session. More positive feedback was received during social events in the congress and through social media interactions. I hope this contribution allowed greater awareness and adherence to HCM, and thus to further the goals of this action, which include improving science and the welfare of laboratory animals.