This section comprises various documents and papers that may be useful to students (and teachers). It will be considerably enlarged over time.

We begin with a paper and a submission that both deal with surgical training for veterinary students, to illustrate that the successful gaining of surgical skills relating to veterinary practice does not require harming or killing animals. Indeed, a better and more appropriate training can result when alternatives are employed within well thought out and well structured practical courses and other opportunities for learning.

The cadaver submission from Andrew Knight can be downloaded and adapted to suit your own situation, then submitted to the academics as part of a campaign for student choice and alternatives.

The survey of physiology students from Massey University, performed in 2001, is an example of how students can conduct surveys as part of a campaign to reduce or replace harmful animal use. Significant reduction at Massey did result from this survey, and similar change happened at the University of Illinois, USA, after a 1999 survey there.

The guide to conscientious objection, written by the veterinarian Andrew Knight, offers advice to students regarding the practical steps you might take to help implement conscientious objection policies and the use of alternatives in their practical courses. The guide also has a number of other chapters addressing the nature and efficacy of alternatives, a collection of student testimonies, and details of further resources.

 'Ethically-Sourced Cadaver Surgery: A Submission to Murdoch University Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences' - Andrew Knight (2000)

Downloadable as:
Rich Text Format Document (RTF - most Word Processors can deal with this, 130k)
Adobe Acrobat Document (75k) 

'Massey University student physiology survey'

Downloadable as:
Rich Text Format Document (RTF - most Word Processors can deal with this, 425k)
Adobe Acrobat Document (148k)

'Learning Without Killing - a Guide to Conscientious Objection' - Andrew Knight

Downloadable as:
Word 1997-2000 English version (1.35Mb)
Word 1997-2000 Spanish version (630Kb Zipped)
Adobe Acrobat Document (1.51 Mb)

'Humane Education. Animals and Alternatives in Laboratory Classes: Aspects, Attitudes and implications' - Helena Pedersen

Downloadable as: Adobe Acrobat Document (1.4 Mb)

'The hidden values: ethics and the use of animals in education' - Thales Tréz

Downloadable as: Adobe Acrobat Document (670 Kb)

'The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations' -  Jonathan Balcombe

Downloadable as: Adobe Acrobat Document (2 Mb)

Comparative studies of student performance: humane teaching methods demonstrate educational efficacy when compared to harmful animal use in biomedical education.