Alternatives to Dissection Spreading Worldwide

by Patricia Collier

Hebrew University (HU) zoology students in Israel are learning about pigeons. They are studying the birds' digestive and circulatory systems, examining their brains and skeletons.

And they are doing it without setting foot in a traditional dissection laboratory.

Thanks to the VCR and TV and an international loan program called InterNICHE, students worldwide can now learn about the anatomy of pigs, rats, cats and other animals in a more humane fashion.

Materials such as the "Vertebrate Dissection Guide series" used by HU, are available from InterNICHE and are helping to provide students and teachers with the latest humane alternatives to classroom animal dissection and live animal experimentation.

InterNICHE's loan system gives users access to a complete library of CD-ROMs, videos, models and mannequins. It covers fields such as anatomy, physiology and surgery. Teachers and students from anywhere in the world can borrow the items.

Tamir Lousky, with InterNICHE Israel, said the professor of the zoology class previously mentioned was so impressed by the quality of the videos, he stated next year's lab might be completely animal-free.

"In addition, after three years of struggling against the faculty staff at the Tel-Aviv University's School of Human Medicine, the faculty dean finally declared to the public and press that next year, the last education lab that still includes harmful animal use will be replaced by an alternative non-animal lab program," Lousky said.

Over the past three years, two other animal labs at the school have been replaced and canceled.

"With the desired transition, the [university] will become the second school of medicine in Israel that ceased using animals entirely, out of four such schools," Lousky said.

In addition, Lousky said the undergraduate biology program at the school does not include any mandatory courses that involve harmful animal use in education.

"This is the first biology department in my country that officially allows gaining an undergraduate biology degree without any harmful animal uses, and without penalty," she said.

"After quite a long time of ...status quo in the field of animal use in education in Israel, there have been some encouraging developments," Lousky said.

InterNICHE has also been providing teachers worldwide with the newest version of its book, 'From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse,' which has been described by reviewers as "a comprehensive guide to alternatives to the harmful use of animals in education."

The publication discusses over 500 products designed for use in a "progressive life science education."

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) also operates a loan program of materials designed to give students and teachers humane alternatives to classroom dissections of cats, fetal pigs and more.

Organizations such as InterNICHE and HSUS are leaders in providing practical alternatives to animal dissection around the world.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.