the 4th R

Born and grown in a sterile and closed environment with little or no touch and without incitements, the vision of the world for a laboratory animal is the little cage in which they are born and fated to die. Any human contact is almost always related to pain and fear. In a world deprived of natural incitements, even if the animals are never submitted to experimentation they "Cannot go from the cage to the garden!"

When animals are rescued from laboratories they cannot be immediately exposed to natural situations/incitements as such situations could be life threatening. Rabbits can die of cardiological problems, rodents can develop aggressive instincts and kill each other, dogs can develop catatonic attitudes, obsessive and compulsive disorders, fear, aggression, etc.

Since the idea of the rehabilitation of laboratory animals is still new and our experiences have been limited the last 5 years, there is more to learn.

Ongoing projects at I-CARE include behavioural and response studies in rehabilitated primates, dogs and rabbits.