Just Say No to Animal Labs

by Rosemary Amey
September 3, 1996

This year, thousands of UofT students will be asked to perform animal labs as part of their course requirements. Studies have found that many students are uncomfortable with these labs, yet almost no one refuses to do them!

However, refusing to do these labs is important, both for the animals' sakes and for your own peace of mind.

Although biological supply companies won't publicly admit it, animals used in labs are sometimes cruelly treated even before they reach the university. Undercover investigators at Carolina Biological Supply Company found that animals were roughly handled and inhumanely killed--sometimes embalmed while still alive. In all, 181 violations of the Animal Welfare Act wererecorded. You (and your instructor) have no way of knowing if the animals you use were also mistreated by the supplier. It's not unlikely, since people who choose to work at this kind of company are probably not animal lovers.

If the lab involves live animals, you may be asked to inflict suffering yourself. For example, a zoology course requires taking vaginal smears from a rat. The lab manual states that rats will become "agitated" and try to bite when picked up by their tails, yet still suggests this is an acceptable handling technique. And based on my experience with Pap smears, I suspect the rats aren't crazy about having water droppers inserted in their vaginas by inexperienced students. (Why do I suspect this lab was designed by a man?)

Finally, even if an animal is killed "painlessly" (which is hard to believe), is it right to take someone's life just to use her as a educational prop? The life of a rat, frog, or fruit fly may seem trivial to us, but to that rat, frog, or fly it is infinitely precious. I believe the rights of every animal must be respected.

The first time I was faced with a frog dissection, in high school, I felt I had to do it because surely it must have some incredible educational value, teaching me things I could not learn any other way. Perhaps you are thinking this about your lab--or your instructor has told you this. I unfortunately did the dissection, and learned nothing that I didn't already know from my reading. I now know there are alternative ways to learn about almost everything without harming animals--such as models and computer simulations, as well as low-tech options like library research. The only thing students learn from dissecting or vivisecting is how to dissect or vivisect. Students should not have to do animal labs to qualify for jobs that won't involve animal labs.

Some professors have claimed that requiring them to provide alternatives to animal labs violates their academic freedom. But I am not proposing that professors be forbidden to teach anything. However, if a prof requires a student to actually commit an action that violates that student's beliefs, then the student's rights are being violated. In the United States, students in such circumstances have argued in courts that their right to freedom of religion was violated--and they have won. (There have been no Canadian lawsuits, yet, but we could likely use the same argument in court.)

Many students hesitate to object to animal labs, because they might get in trouble with their prof. This is theoretically possible, as UofT has no policy protecting the student's right to refuse. (Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (SETA) is working to change that.) However, you will probably be pleasantly surprised. In one biology course, I told my lab instructor I would not do a lab which involved killing fruit flies, and I was immediately offered an alternative assignment. I am taking another biology course this year,and although I don't know for sure yet if I will get an alternative, the course coordinator was quite pleasant about it and willing to look into it.

SETA is happy to provide information on alternatives and emotional support if you are considering requesting an alternative to an animal lab.

Although there is a slight risk in requesting an alternative, I think it is a risk worth taking. Part of university (and life) is learning to think for yourself and do what you think is right. Whatever happens, you will respect yourself a lot more if you at least try to find a way to avoid hurting animals in your education.

Update: My biology professor has promised me an alternative assignment consistent with my beliefs, but only after I sent her a letter from my lawyer outlining my legal rights.

This article originally appeared in a slightly different form in the September 3, 1996 issue of The Varsity, a student newspaper at the University of Toronto. Unfortunately SETA is no longer active. Some animal rights groups in Toronto are Freedom for Animals, Ark II, the Toronto Animal Rights Society, and Animal Alliance of Canada.

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