Teaching with Animals

Animal welfare and care requirements for teaching with animals

Schools must comply with animal welfare obligations outlined in department policy and guidance, and the Victorian Codes of Practice for all animal use categories. The Wildlife in schools guidance may also apply. Regardless of the Victorian Schools Animal Ethics Committee (VSAEC) category, schools must provide for the lifetime welfare of animals and their offspring.

When planning to use animals for any purpose in a school, teachers need to consider the ethical and welfare issues involved. Schools may refer to Victoria’s animal welfare codes of practice for information on the standards for keeping a range of species and animal related activities.

For animal use in teaching to be justified, the proposed use must meet the following requirements (known as the 3Rs):

• Replacement: Where possible animals should be replaced by models, digital learning or other suitable methods.
• Reduction: Use no more than the minimum number of animals. However, this should not be at the expense of greater suffering of individual animals.
• Refinement: Activities must minimise handling, discomfort, distress or pain in animals.

Teachers are strongly encouraged to consider the welfare of all animals (including insects) when using them in teaching activities, even if they do not fall within the scope of animals requiring approval from VSAEC, and to take into account their sentience and ability to experience pain and distress.

Guidance on caring for and handling specific species

All teachers using animals in their teaching are expected to have a thorough knowledge of the husbandry and facilities required for the species in their care.

Victoria has an extensive set of animal welfare codes of practice. These are a good source of information to assist teachers with their VSAEC applications.

The department has developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the most common animals used in teaching with animals activities in Victoria. Please refer to the animal species SOPs under the Resources tab.

For further guidance on the SOPs, or if the animal species intended for use is not listed, email: animalethics@education.vic.gov.au

Monitoring and keeping records about animal health and welfare

The health of all animals must be monitored and records retained by the school. This includes:

• monitoring and assessment of animal wellbeing undertaken with sufficient frequency
• observation and monitoring records to allow review and critical investigation of the cause(s) of and responses to unexpected adverse events. This is used as a basis for future prevention strategies.

Schools can use the department’s sample animal monitoring template or may elect to design their own recording templates, which must be submitted for approval with the VSAEC application. For a copy of the sample animal monitoring template, schools can contact animalsethics@education.vic.gov.au

The monitoring and recording of the ongoing health of the animals can be done in other ways, such as maintaining a daily diary, provided that all the information provided on the relevant sample record keeping form is collected and maintained.

All records must be kept at the school for at least 3 years after the completion of the activity or program for potential audits. Records must be made available to RSPCA inspectors, Agriculture Victoria auditors, the VSAEC or officers of the school system or sectors, on request.