On 7 July 2022, Tineke Coenen, head of the laboratory animal center at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), received a group of employees from Stichting Proefdiervrij. This visit marks the LUMC’s more transparent attitude towards the laboratory animal centre. The ‘Transparency Agreement on Animal Testing’ was signed in 2021 with the aim of creating a more open climate for animal testing and laboratory animals.
It is the first time that the LUMC opens its doors to the employees of Proefdiervrij, the foundation that is committed to a world without laboratory animals. Director Debby Weijers has already visited. The aim of the meeting was to show why and how animal experiments are carried out. The employees of Proefdiervrij saw two research examples in the laboratory. This includes research into COVID-19, for which an animal-free method has been developed subsidized by the foundation: ‘the lung on a chip’. Employees of the laboratory animal center explained how the research is carried out, which animal-free methods are used and why laboratory animals are sometimes still needed.
Good care
Visitors were given a tour of the laboratory animal center and were able to see for themselves how animals are housed and cared for. Mice are mainly used in the pooches center at the LUMC. The part where research on infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and tuberculosis is conducted, could be viewed through windows. Afterwards, the visitors said they appreciated the visit and the openness very much. One of the visitors said that although it is quite confrontational if you are against animal testing yourself, she was very surprised at the good care for the animals.
Read more about animal testing.