Moscow State Agricultural Academy announced Wednesday that it will stop experimenting on animals for educational purposes. Students will instead use videos and computer software provided by InterNICHE - the International Network for Humane Education - to develop their understanding of the animal body.
"Computer programs and videos of professionally carried-out experiments on different animal species will help us avoid problems with students who refuse to experiment on animals for ethical reasons," TASS reported Tatiana Blokhin, a representative of the academy, as saying.
However, a representative of InterNICHE told The Moscow News that the agricultural academy seemed to be drawn to their products and software "more for pedagogic and economic reasons than concerns about animal rights."
The Moscow agricultural institution takes its lead from the St. Petersburg Veterinary Academy, which began phasing out the use of vivisection for educational purposes in October 2005, making it the first of such Russian institutions to do so.
InterNICHE - a not-for-profit NGO with offices in Britain - runs a "Russian micro-loan system," in which mannequins, videos and computer programs are loaned to institutions across the country in the hope that teachers will want to buy and use the educational aids on a permanent basis.
Nick Jukes, the co-coordinator of the network, said that he sees "increasing momentum for the replacement of harmful animal experiments" in Russia. He also said that "alternative, humane education can provide a more economical approach," since mannequins and videos can be reused, whereas new animals are required for each vivisection experiment.
Jukes said that experiments on live animals "desensitize students and show them that animals are disposable." He also claimed that "caring is a clinical skill which it is impossible to learn through animal experimentation." He added that teachers generally found students more interested in classes when alternative technology was used instead of live animal experimentation.
The "humane education" resources were more widespread in the West, but he attributed this to practical issues in Russia rather than lack of interest. "There isn't as wide computer use in Russia as in, say, Britain, and that creates a few obstacles," he said, adding that InterNICHE's software is not yet available in the Russian language.
The Moscow State Agricultural Academy applied for a "Humane Education" grant from InterNICHE and will receive dissection guides on video and virtual zoology software.
But things have not always been so amicable. Earlier this year, for example, InterNICHE expressed concern that the institute was anaesthetizing animals with vodka before student experiments, as the use of ketamine - the drug normally used by vets to anaesthetize animals - is restricted in Russia.
By Theodore Merz
