After more than three decades of failed mouse-model Ebola experiments, the current crisis demonstrates yet again the urgency for biomedical research to move beyond animal models to newer, cutting edge human biology-based approaches to finding cures for human disease.
Read the entire article on The Dodo by John Pippin, M.D.
A recent article by Cynthia Radnitz in the Journal for Critical Animal Studies points to the future when animals in research studies will have the same protections as humans used in research studies. Radnitz argues that research decisions involving animals should fall under the auspices of the same Institutional Review Board process that oversees human research, and that ethics protocols protecting vulnerable human groups (like young children, and people with cognitive disabilities) can be adapted for nonhuman animals involved in observational studies, ethnographic research, clinical trials, and therapeutic treatments.
See the full study here (p.51-83).
Image taken from Wikipedia
Indian universities have banned animal experimentation and dissection! Students will use computer models instead, which are not only more humane, but also a more useful educative tool than animal models. The move is estimated to save 19 million animals each year.
Read the full story here
© daikiki via Creative Commons
A recent study by Lakehead University researcher Jan Oakley highlights the need for clear dissection opt-out policies for secondary school students in Ontario. Students are often pressured into participation in dissection despite the availability of humane alternatives. Humane alternatives have been demonstrated to be as good as, or even superior to, traditional pedagogies using animals.
Here is an abstract of the paper:
This paper highlights the voices and experiences of individuals who objected to animal dissection in their high school science and biology classes. The data were collected via online surveys (n = 311), and 8 of these participants took part in more in-depth telephone interviews. Participants were former students from Ontario, Canada, who discussed their experiences with animal dissection in general, and objection to dissection in particular, if applicable. The findings reveal that students who expressed objection to dissection experienced a range of teacher responses, including pressure to participate, the request to join another group of students and watch, the choice to use a dissection alternative, warnings of compromised grades, and other responses. The study points to the importance of choice policies to ensure that dissection alternatives are available in classrooms. In this way, students can select among different options of how they would like to learn, and teachers can be prepared to accommodate those who choose not to dissect.
Citation: Oakley, J. (2013). “I Didn’t Feel Right About Animal Dissection:” Dissection Objectors Share Their Science Class Experiences. Society & Animals, 21, 360-378
Queen's Animal Defence 