“Since the reasons for many new emerging diseases are unknown, young students and budding scientists should carry out active research in finding new drug compounds using laboratory animals,” Senior Principal Scientist, National Institute of Animal Welfare, Haryana, K.N. Gowal, said today.

Addressing a two-day seminar on Animal Welfare and Ethics at Karunya University here, Dr. Gowal said that there was a sudden spurt of unknown diseases, which have cropped up without any known reasons. In this scenario, budding scientists should come forward and find out required medicine to cure such diseases, he said.

Dr. Gowal urged the research scholars and students who work with animals to be humane with them and treat them carefully and ensure that under no circumstance animals were physically tortured for research purposes.

Improved diagnostics, data analysis and the risk assessment epidemiology, social science and communication could achieve more effective management of zoonotic diseases and other high impact diseases in the future, he pointed out.

The process of making food products from animals should follow a safe procedure, wherein unethical exploiting and killing should be kept to the minimal, he said.

The seminar is jointly being sponsored by Indian Council for Medical Research, Department of Science and Technology and NABARD, in which 120 scientists are participating.