Educational use of animals in Europe indicates a reluctance to implement alternatives

Abstract

Animals have been considered an indispensable tool to teach about the functioning of living organisms, to obtain skills necessary for practicing human and veterinary medicine, as well as for acquiring skills for caring for and conducting experiments on animals in laboratories. However, the efficacy of this practice has been questioned in the last decades and societal views have evolved to put a much larger emphasis on animal welfare and ethics that needs to be reflected in our teaching and training practices. Currently, many alternatives to harmful animal use are available, and it is not clear why thousands of animals continue to be used every year for educational and training purposes. Therefore, this study aimed to identify reasons for the lack of uptake of non-harmful educational and training methods by analysing recently published non-technical summaries in the EU and EEA Member States, and to provide examples of alternatives for specific learning objectives. Results from non-technical summaries from 18 countries spanning the most recent years (2017-2019) revealed that the two main perceived reasons for continued animal use are 1) the necessity of using a living animal for 'proper' learning and 2) the lack of an adequate alternative. We argue that these reasons often do not reflect reality. In conclusion, we consider it is necessary to put a stronger emphasis on engagement with ethical questions that underlie the use of animals and careful consideration of how the learning objectives could be achieved through non-harmful alternatives.

Development of a 3D simulator for training the mouse in utero electroporation

“…Previous evidence suggested that user dissatisfaction with the available simulators usually comes with limitations in accuracy and fidelity [ 9 , 30 , 31 ]. In this study, the simulator provided a realistic recreation of the specific IUE setup for C57BL/6J mice [ 32 ] and had a favorable rating for providing a good introduction to IUE while reducing the number of animals for training.…”

The Use of Simulation Models and Student-Owned Animals for Teaching Clinical Examination Procedures in Veterinary Medicine

“…For teaching CEPs, two main sets of items are usually needed: exploration tools (e.g., thermometers, otoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, reflex hammers, containment systems, stethoscopes) and animals, which serve as “models” for the skill learning. Currently, there is a trend towards reducing the use of animals in teaching procedures in many veterinary faculties [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. It is estimated that up to 10% of the animals listed for experimental purposes are used for education and training [ 9 ].…”

“…Some universities around the globe, from the Ankara University to the University of Hannover or the University of California Davis, for example, already have a long history of the so-called “Clinical Skill Labs”, where plastic models and full-body manikins are used to learn and practice various procedures [ 8 ]. Even if it has been shown that the learning outcomes with non-harmful teaching methods can be similar to the use of harmful animal models [ 12 ], it is still advocated among veterinary educators that practicing on living animals is needed for proper learning [ 7 ]. For learning purposes, model-based and animal-based approaches are often grounded on polarized opinions, according to their advantages and drawbacks [ 7 ].…”

Alternatives in Education—Evaluation of Rat Simulators in Laboratory Animal Training Courses from Participants’ Perspective

“…Although many alternatives have been established [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ] to reduce or replace live mice and rats, e.g., in theoretical education [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] or practice of dissection [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ] and suturing [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], according to our previous study, however, resources for practical training of handling and routine procedural techniques seem to be limited [ 13 ]. Beside toys, do-it-yourself-interventions [ 13 , 37 ] may also be applied.…”

“…In spite of their unique market position as an alternative training resource for practical training on mice and rats, almost no data seems to be available on them to the authors’ knowledge. Literature research in this regard had covered books, reviews, and reports on alternative training resources [ 15 , 20 , 27 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ] and one research article focusing on the general outcomes of LAS training courses, solely stating the use of one of the available simulators during the course [ 49 ]. However, our previous study was the only one that seems to have dealt with a focused analysis on the implementation and satisfaction with current simulators for LAS courses.…”