Animal Use in Veterinary Education

Prevalence of Conscientious Objection Policies to Harmful Animal Use in Education at Medical and Veterinary Faculties in Europe

“…Whittaker and Anderson [20] provided an outline of which considerations should be included in the development of conscientious objection guidelines: (1) recognition of conscientious belief concerning the use of animals and definition of what constitutes a belief, (2) opportunity to discuss concerns without fear of consequence, (3) student access to legislation and knowledge of the institutional process for approval of animal use, (4) staff member responsible for identifying conscientious difficulty with a teaching practice or form of assessment, (5) staff member responsible for assessing the legitimacy of belief and maintaining records of discussions, (6) process of an ongoing review of the objection, and (7) student right to request a suitable alternative teaching method or form of assessment. Information on conscientious policies should be included in student handbooks or course guides and be available before course commencement [1].…”

“…Animals have long played an important role in education and training across all education levels. At the medical and veterinary faculties, animals are being used to teach surgical skills and sometimes also clinical procedures, such as resuscitation [1]. This training has traditionally utilized anaesthetised, conscious, or euthanized animals to demonstrate and practice various tasks.…”

“…This ethical consideration is an indispensable part of the 3Rs principles, Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement [3]. Replacement could be achieved through the employment of humane teaching methods, for instance, computer simulations and videos, anatomical models, patient simulators, non-invasive self-experimentation, preserved specimens, ethically sourced cadavers or supervised clinical experience [1]. Many studies have already shown that participation in harmful animal use during education is not essential for a successful career in life sciences, including veterinary medicine [4][5][6].…”

“…Around 30% of these procedures are categorized as non-recovery, meaning that animals are under general anaesthesia from which they will not recover consciousness (Figure 1). A recent analysis of publicly available non-technical summaries of projects using animals for the primary purpose of education and training within the EU revealed that the two main reasons for the continued animal use described in the non-technical summaries were (1) belief in the necessity of using a living animal for 'proper' learning, and (2) the perceived lack of an adequate alternative [2]. These reasons are nevertheless in opposition to the best available evidence.…”