Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health and the World Association for Buiatrics (WAB) have signed a long-term cooperative agreement to foster research related to animal welfare in ruminants. The "Ruminant Well-being Award" will be presented at each WBC (World Buiatrics Congress) for at least the next six years. By doing so, the WAB and Boehringer Ingelheim intend to raise public awareness of the important role veterinarians play in continuous improvement of animal welfare in food-producing ruminants. This is an additional component of Boehringer Ingelheim´s long-term commitment to improving the health and well-being of farm animals.
WAB President Professor Walter Baumgartner said: "It is of the utmost importance to us to constantly improve animal welfare. By doing so, we can additionally guarantee the production of high-quality food of animal origin for humans. As an internationally acknowledged association for vets working in the field of ruminants, we therefore strongly recommend that farm animals be provided with good animal welfare conditions."
The "Ruminant Well-being Award" will comprise € 15,000 in cash, plus the invitation to the World Buiatrics Congress, where the Award Ceremony will be held. Veterinarians from around the world working in the field of bovine/ruminant health gather at the WBC in alternate years. The next scheduled venue is to be Dublin, Ireland, from 3 to 8 July 2016.
The award will be open to practicing veterinary surgeons, researchers, or graduate students in veterinary (or animal) science. The award aims to recognise improvements in understanding and assessing pain or well-being in ruminants. It is hoped that candidates may have invented or validated methods to assess ruminant well-being on farm or have worked out strategies related to improvement of ruminant welfare on working farms. Educational efforts may also be recognised, such as raising awareness of issues of concern and changing human attitudes and behaviour to ensure proper stewardship of ruminants.
The winner of the award will be selected by an independent expert panel under the supervision of Xavier Manteca, Professor in Applied Ethology at the University of Barcelona and founder of the Farm Animal Welfare Education Centre (www.fawec.org). Professor Manteca commented on the award: "Animal welfare has become fundamentally important, not only for ethical reasons but also to guarantee the sustainability of the livestock industry. I am sure this award will make a significant contribution to ruminant welfare all over the world,"
A "Call for applications" will soon be published on the WAB website (www.buiatrics.com) and communicated to veterinarians globally through the WAB newsletter.
About Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is committed to providing leading solutions to prevent, treat and cure animal diseases. Every year, we invest more than 10 percent of our net sales in Animal Health to do research at the highest level.At Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, more than 3,500 employees worldwide work on the research and development of new medicines and procedures to keep our animal patients healthy. We are driven by the wish to improve animal welfare as an integral part of a healthy future for mankind.
About the World Association for Buiatrics
The World Association for Buiatrics (WAB) is an independent international association and legal entity. Its objectives are to organise meetings on diseases and production of cattle (buiatrics) in order to report the results of research work and other practical experiences in buiatrics and to discuss these topics in an international forum and thus promote all aspects of buiatrics in both science and practice. The WAB issues occasional and regular publications (circulars, conference proceedings, reminders, periodicals, newsletters) including materials on the topics outlined above. The Association promotes international research on ruminant animals and keeps veterinary practitioners and all interested agricultural specialists informed about the results achieved around the world. For more information about the WAB visit: www.buiatrics.com
Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world's 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, Boehringer Ingelheim operates globally with 146 affiliates and a total of more than 47,700 employees. The focus of the family-owned company, founded in 1885, is researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing new medications of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
Social responsibility is an important element of the corporate culture at Boehringer Ingelheim. This includes worldwide involvement in social projects, such as the initiative "Making more Health" and caring for its employees. Respect, equal opportunities and reconciling career and family form the foundation of this mutual cooperation. In everything it does, the company focuses on environmental protection and sustainability.
In 2014, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of about 13.3 billion euros. R&D expenditure corresponds to 19.9 percent of its net sales.
For more information please visit www.boehringer-ingelheim.com
3.18.2016
