The CCR Feline Research Center—named in memory of cat Cowboy—is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Mico, Texas, USA established in 2016 by Dr. Sebastiaan Bol and Dr. Evelien Bunnik. The mission of the nonprofit is advance feline welfare through rigorous, non-invasive scientific research conducted free from commercial funding or influence.

The CCR Feline Research Center operates according to a number of core principles spanning research ethics, scientific integrity, and academic publishing practice.

Animal welfare. We hold that all vertebrate animals are sentient beings and that our research must reflect this. We conduct no laboratory research and will not undertake studies involving significant discomfort, stress, pain, or death, nor collaborate with researchers who do. Consistent with our animal welfare principles, we promote plant-based diets for humans as a means of reducing unnecessary animal suffering and environmental impact.

Conflicts of interest. We will not allow any perceived financial conflicts of interest. Our people are screened to ensure they hold no financial ties to industries related to our research fields. We accept no commercial funding, free products, or incentives of any kind, and no research conducted under our auspices carries a commercial motive.

Academic publishing. We support open, transparent peer review where review reports are published alongside the article, preferably with reviewer names and affiliations disclosed. We prefer to publish with not-for-profit academic publishers whenever possible, though this is sometimes limited by scope, article type, and article length restrictions. When funds are available, we publish in open access journals.