The World Association for Buiatrics and Boehringer Ingelheim announce the 'Ruminant Well-Being Awards’

Ingelheim, Germany, 16 March 2020 – The biennial Ruminant Well-Being Awards, held in partnership with the World Association for Buiatrics (WAB), reflects Boehringer Ingelheim’s long-term commitment to promoting the health and well-being of farm animals. The event, sponsored exclusively by Boehringer Ingelheim, is held at the annual World Buiatrics Congress highlighting the important role played by vets in the continuous improvement of animal welfare for food-producing ruminants.

The next congress will be held in Madrid, Spain (September 27 to October 1, 2020), and applications will be open for two different awards:

• Ruminant Well-Being Research Award, and
• Ruminant Well-Being Achievement Award.

Each award comprises a 10,000 euro-prize for each winner, plus reimbursement of the recipient’s travel expenses to attend the conference and the ceremony.

The Ruminant Well-Being Research Award

This award will be granted to a recent PhD graduate in veterinary science, animal science or related disciplines that made an exceptional contribution to the scientific knowledge on ruminant well-being achieving some of the following:

• Improving the understanding of pain expression as well as the recognition of pain and other forms of suffering
• Developing scientific methods of measuring animal well-being, with potential practical applications
• Developing scientific based strategies that improve animal well-being
• Identifying issues of concern and seeking solutions to challenges
• Developing methods to change human attitudes and behavior to ensure proper stewardship

The Ruminant Well-Being Achievement Award

The second award category will be granted to a practicing veterinarian or a researcher in veterinary science, animal science or related disciplines to recognize his/her achievements in advancing the well-being of ruminants. It aims at rewarding an individual that made contribution to the well-being of food-producing ruminants by achieving some of the following:

• Improving the understanding of pain expression as well as the recognition of pain and other forms of suffering
• Developing scientific methods of measuring animal well-being
• Developing practical well-being assessment methods
• Developing practical strategies to improve animal well-being
• Raising awareness of issues of concern; engaging different stakeholders in seeking solutions to challenges
• Changing human attitudes and behavior to ensure proper stewardship
• Communicating information about, and proposing solutions to, animal well-being challenges with courage and integrity

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).

Applications will be accepted until April 30, 2020. Application forms and criteria can be found on the Boehringer Ingelheim website on Farm Animal Well-Being www.farmanimalwellbeing.com.

Our pledge

Science shows that when farm animals are not just healthy, but also free of pain and discomfort, there are far-reaching positive consequences. At Boehringer Ingelheim, we believe that vets play a key role in promoting better farming practices. Our aim is to build and share scientific knowledge around farm animal well-being, where effective pain management benefits livestock and rewards farmers, while satisfying the social demands for responsible farming.

Because farm animal well-being works.

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Business Unit

Boehringer Ingelheim is the second largest animal health business in the world, with net sales of almost 4 billion euros in 2018 and presence in more than 150 markets.

Across the globe, our 10,000 employees create the future of animal wellbeing through their daily work. We believe in prevention over treatment and therefore, we focus on developing innovative solutions in the field of vaccines, parasiticides and therapeutics. With a large portfolio of advanced, preventive healthcare products, tools and services, we support our customers in taking care of the health of their animals

For more information visit: www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/animal-health/overview.

Boehringer Ingelheim

Improving the health of humans and animals is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients’ lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention.

Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceuticals. In 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of around 17.5 billion euros. R&D expenditure of almost 3.2 billion euros, corresponded to 18.1 per cent of net sales.