Student choice applauded from Boston

Capital News (Kelowna)
Mar 2, 2005

To the editor:

The Ethical Science and Education Coalition (ESEC), headquartered in Boston, MA, supports Kelowna students' efforts to pass a student choice policy, which would allow conscientious objectors to use a humane alternative to animal dissection or vivisection exercises (Learning From Dead Creatures Being Opposed, Feb. 25 Capital News).

There is a vast need for a student choice policy at all school levels to protect bright students from being penalized with lower grades and/or forced to drop classes because of the required use of animals.

Not only are alternatives more cost effective, they represent technological advancements that will better prepare students for future careers in the scientific field. In fact, two-thirds of all medical schools in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and Yale, have eliminated the use of animals for training doctors, replacing them with state-of-the-art computer programs, simulators and human surgery observation.

Plus, many veterinary schools now allow humane alternatives to invasive animal procedures.

ESEC's Alternatives Loan Library, which contains more than 400 books, 200 videos, and dozens of models and computer programs, offers loans to schools, teachers and students.Replacing animal specimens with alternatives also eliminates the use of toxic chemicals by students and teachers.

The New England Anti-Vivisection Society applauds Cory Davis and The Responsible Animal Care Society and encourages Rutland senior secondary officials to implement an official student choice policy, so Kelowna's students have the right to pursue science without harming animals.

Jodie Wiederkehr,
New England Anti-Vivisection Society,
Boston, MA