Advancing Ethical Practices: AAVMC Guidelines on Animal Use in Veterinary Education

As veterinary education evolves, ensuring ethical practices in the use of animals remains paramount. The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) has taken significant steps to address this critical aspect with the release of updated guidelines and a comprehensive handbook. These resources aim to promote animal welfare, enhance transparency, and encourage the adoption of innovative alternatives in veterinary education.

AAVMC Handbook on the Use of Animals in Education

Contributing to the development of veterinary anatomy education and its approaches, the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges’ (AAVMC) Task Force for the Use of Animals in Veterinary Education created the “AAVMC Handbook on the Use of Animals in Education.” In April, the AAVMC released the updated “AAVMC Handbook on the Use of Animals in Education,” created by the AAVMC Task Force for the Use of Animals in Veterinary Education. The handbook seeks to help advance developments in veterinary anatomy education by promoting effective animal alternatives and animal welfare and ethics, as well as the safety of veterinary students and the animals involved in their learning process.

According to the AAVMC, the handbook seeks to help advance developments in veterinary anatomy education by promoting effective animal alternatives and animal welfare and ethics, as well as the safety of veterinary students and the animals involved in their learning process. The handbook builds on the “Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Veterinary Education,” published in October 2022, providing detailed recommendations on improving animal use policies, incorporating animal alternatives, and enhancing transparency in reporting.

The handbook provides veterinary colleges with recommendations on how to implement alternatives to cadaveric dissection, source cadavers ethically, decrease reliance on institutionally owned animals for preclinical education, and utilize animal models or simulators for teaching clinical skills.

The Genesis of the Handbook: Building Upon Existing Guidelines

The creation of the handbook came after the AAVMC published their "Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Veterinary Education," in October 2022. The guidelines aim to assist AAVMC member institutions in enhancing their policies on animal use, promoting the adoption of animal alternatives, and fostering transparency. Both the guidelines and the handbook are applicable to preveterinary and veterinary technology programs.

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Yet, the AAVMC soon realized additional information on implementing the guidelines was necessary. According to the handbook’s abstract, “While the Guidelines provided overarching principles and broad recommendations, the next step was to write a handbook to accompany the Guidelines, elaborating on how institutions could implement the Guideline’s recommendations, enabling them to support and promote humane and ethical animal use, guided by the 4 Rs: replacement, reduction, refinement, and respect".

Addressing Misconceptions and Promoting Ethical Practices

Dr. Julie A. Hunt, chair of the task force and associate dean of clinical sciences at Lincoln Memorial University Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine, addressed common misconceptions, emphasizing the importance of ethical cadaver sourcing and the efficacy of models in clinical skills training. “Many people believe that anatomy must be taught primarily through cadaveric dissection,” said Hunt. “However, ethical concerns have been raised about the sourcing and traceability of cadavers." Another misconception is that using models in clinical skills training takes away from live animal practice and the skills learned on models are of questionable transferability.

“The task force sought to create guidelines, recommendations, and methods that would be aspirational for most veterinary colleges but not out of reach,” Julie A. Hunt, associate dean of clinical sciences at Lincoln Memorial University Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine, and chair of the task force, said in a release by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). “Animal ethics also vary geographically, and the task force had to consider how to create guidelines and a handbook that would be relevant to all AVMA-accredited veterinary colleges worldwide.”

Dr. Hunt addressed common misconceptions, emphasizing the importance of ethical cadaver sourcing and the efficacy of models in clinical skills training. Speaking on the concern that incorporating models into clinical skills training diminishes the skills learned from live animal practice and doubts about the transferability of skills learned on models, Hunt explained, “the aim is not to eliminate the use of live animals in veterinary education. The goal is to optimize the animal ethics associated with veterinary training.” “The aim is not to eliminate live animal use in veterinary education but to optimize animal ethics in training,” Dr. Hunt said.

The 4Rs: A Guiding Principle

The handbook emphasizes humane and ethical animal use, guided by the 4 Rs: replacement, reduction, refinement, and respect. The AAVMC guidelines explicitly recommend against euthanizing animals solely for educational purposes and encourage the use of non-animal alternatives, ethically sourced cadavers (e.g., from willed body programs), and clinical cases where the animal benefits.

Alternatives to Traditional Methods

According to the handbook, “there is a growing volume of work and research that suggests that cadavers do not need to be used to achieve sound anatomical learning. As a result, many medical education institutions take a blended approach to teaching medical anatomy, using a variety of techniques, and often utilizing both cadavers and digital learning environments to support their healthcare students’ learning… In recent years, many medical schools have moved away from cadaveric dissection, utilizing prosections and plastinated specimens instead, or have stopped using cadavers completely.”

In Chapter 2, the handbook discusses advancements in technology to support teaching. These include realistic 3D models; high tech platforms; videoconferencing; augmented reality; and virtual reality (VR), including virtual dissection tables and fully immersive experiences via VR headsets.

Survey Findings: Variability in Animal Use

According to 2023 survey with 20 North American veterinary schools as the participants, there is variation in the use of live animals for teaching anatomy. Some respondents reported incorporating both small and large live animals as a supplementary to anatomy education, while others utilized either small or large animals, but not both. Other veterinary schools indicated that they did not use live animals for teaching purposes. Variation exists among use of live animals in teaching anatomy, according to a brief survey sent last year to North American veterinary schools. “Curriculum revisions and the introduction of clinical skills courses into the early years of the curriculum led to the use of live animals being eliminated entirely from some anatomy courses,” the handbook stated.

Quantifying Animal Use: A New Study

A new study, the first of its kind, has quantified the use of cadavers and animals in terminal teaching exercises across public veterinary schools in the United States and Canada. The research, published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, provides an unprecedented look into the scope, sources, and justifications for these long-standing educational practices, revealing significant variation in how schools adhere to modern ethical guidelines.

Through public records requests, researchers obtained and analyzed 120 active Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols from 26 public veterinary schools. The data reveals a widespread and substantial use of animals.

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Scope of Animal Use

Widespread Use: 24 of the 26 schools reported using equines in terminal or cadaveric exercises, followed by cows (20 schools) and small ruminants (19 schools).
Sheer Numbers: Poultry were requested in the highest total numbers (8,558), largely due to their use in teaching euthanasia techniques. Other species requested in high numbers included rodents (1,441), equines (906), and dogs (865).
Diverse Sources: Animals were sourced from client donations, commercial vendors, internal university herds or colonies, and, in a few cases, pet stores. Donation programs were most common for equines (19 schools) and companion animals.

Ethical Considerations and Gaps in Practice

A core objective of the study was to evaluate how closely current practices align with the 2022 American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Veterinary Education. These guidelines advocate for the principles of the “4Rs”-Replacement, Reduction, Refinement, and Respect-and emphasize transparency and ethical sourcing.

The study identified a considerable gap between these recommendations and on-the-ground practices. The researchers analyzed the justifications provided by Principal Investigators (PIs) in their IACUC protocols and found:

The Primary Justification: In 87 of the 120 protocols (72.5%), PIs acknowledged that alternatives exist but argued they "do not provide an equal learning experience."
Need for Live Animals: 71 protocols justified the use of live animals for learning nonsurgical techniques (handling, restraint), while 65 protocols cited the need for live animals to teach surgical skills.
Lack of Consideration: Alarmingly, 18 protocols from 10 different schools provided no explicit consideration of alternatives whatsoever.

The study notes that while many schools have developed client donation programs, the term "donation" can be vague, encompassing everything from animals euthanized for medical reasons to those culled for economic purposes.

Limitations of the Study

The authors caution that their findings likely represent a significant undercount. A major limitation is that IACUC approval is not required for animals obtained already deceased. Therefore, the vast number of cadavers used in anatomy and pathology labs-a staple of veterinary education-are not captured in IACUC protocols and their sources remain largely undocumented and unquantified.

Furthermore, protocols often lacked specificity, grouping survival and terminal procedures together or listing total animal numbers without clarifying how many would be euthanized.

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