Guidelines for Humane Education: Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Teaching and Training

Abstract

There are few areas of animal use that are so emotive as that of their use in education. The physical presence of an animal (whether alive or dead) is a dramatic event for most students, and the effects it has will depend heavily on their previous experience with that species, their moral values and the perceived necessity of the practical. Much of the literature on this subject is highly emotive and based on relatively little data. This paper attempts to clarify the issues raised, presents an overview of the alternatives available with their strengths and weaknesses, and finally offers guidelines for humane education that take into consideration both the practical issues and the feelings of all those involved.

Student Perspectives on the Use of Alternative Methods for Teaching in Veterinary Faculties

“…Focusing our interest on humane veterinary education, undergraduate students were chosen as the specific target group -and veterinary students, in view of their curriculum, were an interesting audience to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptance of these methods from the student point of view (10). While future veterinarians traditionally get hands-on experience with animals during their training, it seems that, recently, they have also been exposed to the numerous alternatives available (manikins, plastinated animals/organs and animal body donation programmes), which seem to be becoming increasingly popular in order to avoid the harmful use of animals in education (15)(16)(17)(18).…”

“…This is considered valuable from an educational point of view, as students are exposed very early in their careers to the idea that some learning objectives can be met by non-animal alternatives. Furthermore, students have the opportunity to gain knowledge that is based on modern principles of animal science, without facing ethical dilemmas regarding animal use and sacrifice during their training (17). Indeed, animal welfare and veterinary ethics are important and challenging subjects that are considered vital for improving student ability to identify moral dilemmas, and these subjects can mainly be reinforced through humane teaching approaches (18).…”

Ética no uso de animais: A experiência do Comitê de Ética no Uso de Animais da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná

“…Passou, também, a ser estimulada a elaboração de métodos alternativos, como modelos tridimensionais, simuladores mecânicos, computacionais e de realidade virtual, experimentos in vitro, cadáveres de animais obtidos de forma ética e vídeos interativos (Jukes & Chiuia, 2003;Magalhães & Ortêncio-Filho, 2006;Osório, 2006;Valk, 2006). A legislação de países como a Noruega e Reino Unido (Smith & Smith, 2004) permite os procedimentos com animais somente quando os objetivos não puderem ser alcançados por meio de alternativas, e o parlamento italiano aprovou uma lei que garante o direto de todo cidadão de se recusar a participar de qualquer forma de experimentação animal (Balcombe, 2000).…”

Animal use in Life Sciences Education: Current Status, Teachers’ and Adolescents’ Attitudes and Alternatives

“…As the subject matter of Life Sciences is the living world, the use of animals has been a longstanding tradition and considered as a regular part of the curriculum at Secondary School programs (de Villiers, 2010;Kavai, de Villiers, & Fraser, 2017). However, during the last decades, this practice has raised much controversy, particularly in developed countries (Capaldo, 2004;Smith & Smith, 2004;Vollum et al, 2004).…”

“…In addition, the choice policy that gives students the right to opt out of dissection and use an alternative instead, and resolutions that encourage teachers to provide alternatives to dissection have been implemented in several countries (Duncan, 2008;Kramer, 2007;Oakley, 2012Oakley, , 2013. These policies have been supported by the numerous dissection alternatives available including virtual dissections, anatomical models, films, on-line presentations, plastinated specimens… (Jukes & Chiuia, 2003;Smith & Smith, 2004). Due to potential and advantages of animal-free alternatives use in education and teaching, the animal welfare/rights activists have seriously pondered the lack of relevance of involving animals in such practices.…”