Newsletter of IBF

Heidelberg University I/2025 

Dear Users,

In the following newsletter, you will find updated information on animal welfare, the current situation and organization of the IBF:

Survey Results on Animal Welfare and the Animal Welfare Act
The commented results of the recent survey among responsible animal experiment supervisors as well as third-year medical students at Heidelberg University on the topic of animal welfare and the Animal Welfare Act can be accessed at the following link:

https://heibox.uni-heidelberg.de/f/dae09af82716491689b3/

We would like to sincerely thank all participants of the survey once again for their contribution!

Present Information on the IBF Veterinary Staff
Since last year, we have been supported by two new veterinary colleagues who are active in various areas. Mr. Ganser (Hygiene Monitoring) and Mr. Weber-Wilk (Clinical Veterinarian) can be found in room 068 on the ground floor and, following the departure of Dr. Serba as of April 30, are also the current contacts for the large animal area.

Availability Mr. Weber-Wilk (all day): 56-311512
Availability Mr. Ganser (half day): 56-34975

Forms
Forms are always promptly adapted to changed legal regulations or commission requirements. Therefore, please always use the current forms from the homepage of the animal welfare officers. It is difficult and causes a loss of time for everyone involved if applications or registrations have to be transferred into new forms.
The current forms/animal welfare officer responsibilities can be found at the following link:
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/tierschutz/form.html or in the right column of the animal welfare officers’ homepage under quick access.

Breeding Age & Line Usage
Increasingly, (very) old animals are being kept in the breeding barriers. Lines bred for scientific use remain in housing for too long and are not utilized; breeding is no longer possible, as especially old females suffer from line-specific birth problems.
Both from the perspective of animal welfare and limited resources, we ask for careful planning regarding the scale of breeding and the timing of experiments.

Contingency Planning
The animal welfare-compliant, economical, and fair distribution of contingents is a recurring topic discussed in the user committee. Since the use of contingents and thus the workload can change dynamically, the IBF will conduct a survey of the needs for the coming year in the 3rd quarter and forward it to the user committee.

Information on §11 Usage and/or Keeping Permits

New permits have been issued by the Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe. This was necessary because Mr. Weber-Wilk has been appointed as the new animal welfare officer, and as a result, the responsibilities in the § 11 permits have also changed. 

Kind Regards,

Sabine Chourbaji