The 3Hs (housing, handling and habituation) programme, for researchers working with animal models, is funded by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and seeks to help improve the welfare of laboratory rodents.
Underpinned by the principles of the 3Rs (reduce, replace and refine), the aim of the online course, is to help researchers reduce the stress animals can experience during methods used for their routine care.
The principles of 3Rs, developed over 50 years ago as a framework for humane animal research, are fixed in UK and European law. Where it is necessary to use a living animal to achieve a specific scientific objective, the purpose of the 3Rs is to use methods which minimise the suffering of the animal - aiming to replace them, where possible, with alternatives; to reduce the number of animals used and to refine techniques that involve animals.