Codes of Practice: Genetically modified animals killed in stock

The term ‘killed in stock’ is often used in the Dutch animal research field. This concerns animals that are euthanized without having been part of an experiment. A distinction is made between: 1) animals that died or were killed after being used for breeding (e.g. parent animals used for breeding); and 2) animals that died or were killed before being used for breeding or animal experiments.

In 2015, at the request of the then State Secretary of Economic Affairs, we issued an advisory report on reducing of the number of GM animals ‘Killed in stock’, with a particular focus on fish and mice (Part 1). In order to improve the quality of the generation and breeding of genetically modified animals in the Netherlands, we issued a supplemental advisory report (Part 2) in 2018.

The report contains two Codes of Practice, being:

• CoP for the generation of genetically modified animals
• CoP for breeding of GM animal models.