Animal Welfare
The welfare of animals has become an important issue in society. Animal Welfare is a broad concept covering how well animals cope with their environment: that they are healthy, get satisfaction for behavioural needs and experience positive emotions, throughout their lives. The Animal Welfare Research group deals with both terrestrial and aquatic animals.
The Animal Welfare Research Group at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute includes one ethologist and four veterinarians. All hold a PhD, and three of the veterinarians are approved European veterinary experts (Diplomates) in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law.
The group members have experience from several years of work in animal welfare science as well as related fields such as animal ethics, genetics, physiology, epidemiology, and microbiology. We have background from veterinary clinical practice, industry, public animal welfare administration and legislation, and international work. We master different methodology and we develop and validate new indicators. This allows us to approach animal welfare issues of a wide range of species and topics. The group members also serve as advisors for the authorities, including being expert witnesses in animal welfare legal trials.
