Fischer ML, Tamioso PR. Perception and position of animals used in education and experimentation by students and teachers of different knowledge fields. Int J Environ Sci Educ. 2013;5:189-200


Abstract

The way as society treats the animals may interfere in the success of the proposals for new ethical conducts and has the potential to in!uence the legislative and executive branches, as well as economy. Even in a particular place, such as the university environment, different perceptions on the conduct regarding animal use can be found. This can be related to abilities and competences developed during the academic formation or training. Assuming that the ethical perception in animal use in educational and scienti#c activities are related to knowledge #elds, this study aimed to interview students and teachers of a private university considering the biological, social, technical, legal and human #elds. The survey was conducted at 17 courses with 87 interviews, through a questionnaire with 16 both open and closed questions, related to the ethics in using animals for teaching and research purposes, as well as knowledge about the animals; about alter-natives; and about companies that test their products on animals. The respondents gave positive answers about their feelings towards the animals, but they still show the inheritance of Mechanistic view, once they use the rationality as a mean of differentiating Human being from the other animals. Our results indicate the obvious acceptance of the animal use for educational purposes, mainly mammals and rats, for the Veterinary Medicine and Biology courses. The majority of the respondents considered the animal use in scienti#c research and experimentation fundamental, mainly for medicine production and other therapies related to human health. On the other hand, they did not show to have information about experimentation, once they did not show knowledge about alternative methods. These results con#rm the traditional view that the bene#ts for scienti#c development justify the costs with animal welfare and the acceptance of practices that do not cause unnecessary suffering. The data of this study pointed out few differences among academic #elds. This #nding suggests that ethical attitudes toward animal use in academic and scienti#c areas are beyond the carrier a$nity. These results indicate that there is few worry with information and awareness, which are essentials for changes in attitude.