AWI fosters species-appropriate housing，compassionate care and handling，and minimization of fear，distress，and pain for animals in research。We promote research methods that reduce the total number of animals subject to experimentation。
According to US Department of Agriculturereports，each year some80000warm-blooded animals are used in research in the United States，with another100000+held in research facilities but not used for regulated activities。annual numbers do not includerats of the genusRattus，mice of the genusus，or birds，however。从保护单元开始Animal Welfare Actand the number in use is not recorded。A recent calculation，however，estimates that the number of rats and mice used in research each year is111.5 million—which would represent more than99percent of the total animals used。
AWI strongly believes that the Animal Welfare Act should be strictly enforced。Our relentless advocacy made the law’s enactment possible in1966，and helped strengthen and broaden subsequent amendments。
We also believe that protections under the law should be extended（at a bare minimum）to rats，mice，and birds and that all animals in research deserve to be treated with care and as humanely as possible。
Specifically，animals in research should be provided with comfortable housing with conspecifics，veterinary treatment that includes pain relief，and the opportunity to engage in species-typical behaviors-while sparing them needless suffering.Researchers doing work with any animal specshould use the“3Rs”as their guiding principles：再生，再生（substitution with non-animal methods），再生，再生（methods of obtaining data using fewer animals），andrefinement（methods that alleviate or minimize animal suffering and distress）。
AWI’s long-running onlineLaboratory Animal Refinement&Enrichment Forum（LAREF）facilitates meaningful discussion and exchange of ideas among members of the research animal care community concerning ways to improve the conditions under which animals in laboratories are housed and handled。AWI also provides funding to laboratory personnel toconduct researchfocused on improving the housing and handling of animals in research or toimplementbetter practices。Finally，AWI has been at the forefront of efforts to providenonhuman primateswith social housing that addresses their behavioral needs to the greatest extent possible or to implement better practices。AWI is astrong proponent of teaching animals to cooperate during routine procedures rather than using stress-inducing removal from the home cage and forced restraint。
Click here to read AWI’s位置Statement on Research and Testing with Animals。
