Education and training
There are three areas where animals may be used for the purposes of education or training:
- For the demonstration of biological processes;
- In the professional training of those who will be involved in animal care eg veterinarians, veterinary nurses or those involved in the animal care industries;
- To ensure those who wish to use animals for scientific purposes have the necessary skills and knowledge, eg research personnel and post-graduate students.
The educational objectives in each situation will differ and it will be necessary for an Animal Ethics Committee to judge each application on its merits taking into consideration the necessity to use animals for the desired learning outcomes.
As required by the Australian Code of Practice - animals should only be used for teaching activities when no suitable alternative is available (7.1.1). The Code also requires that students are given an opportunity to discuss the ethical, social and scientific issues involved in the use of animals for research or teaching and when students use animals as part of their professional training, curricula in the academic discipline should include material on such issues (7.1.3)
In this section you will find information about policies and guidelines concerning the use of animals for educational purposes, information on alternatives and other educational resources as well as specific sections on education of investigators and members of Animal Ethics Committees.
A publication which examines the specific issues which need to be addressed is:
The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives and Recommendations.
Written by Jonathon Balcombe and published by the Humane Society Press. Examines the issue from a humane and ethical perspective. Download the on-line PDF version from www.hsus.org/.
Check the Animal Research Review Panel guidelines shown below which can be viewed under the Policies and guidelines link.
- Training personnel involved in the care and use of animals for scientific purposes
- Guidelines for ACECs considering the use of animals for post-graduate surgical training
- Welfare guidelines for teaching artificial insemination and pregnancy testing in cattle