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| by Rosemary Amey In my article Just Say No to Animal Labs, I urge students to refuse to perform animal labs. All very well and good, you may think, but what happens when my prof refuses, or offers an unacceptable alternative, or even laughs in my face? (Yes, this has happened.) I know from my own experience that it can be difficult to get an alternative assignment. However, I have also learned that with persistence it is possible. Like many students, I am required to complete BIO250Y (Cell and Molecular Biology) as part of my program. BIO250Y includes four labs which involve harm to animals (Labs 1, 7, 9, and 11). Here's how I got alternatives. Please feel free to email me for more information! I clarified my values before I started. What kind of labs are you opposed to? Does it matter to you if the animal is alive or dead during the lab? Does it matter if you do something to the animal, or just watch? I myself was offered the alternative of attending the lab but not touching the animal parts. Although I think this offer was well-intentioned, I had thought enough about the issue to know that it was against my ethical beliefs, because for me the issue was not touching animal parts, but rather the harm that was done to the animal. Many pro-animal groups involve products such as "Digital Frog," a CD-ROM with images of a frog who was killed and dissected. Personally, I would not encourage anyone to support the froggy snuff film industry--yes, fewer frogs are killed, but I believe no frogs should be killed. As you can see, there are many issues to think about. Better to decide in advance, than to agree to do an assignment and then change your mind. I found out as soon as possible what the labs involved. Because it will require some effort on the part of the instructors to accommodate you, it is best to discuss the issue with them as soon as possible. I spoke with the course coordinator in August, before the course even began. I asked which labs used animals, or parts of animals, animal tissues, animal blood, etc. In retrospect, I should also have asked about eggs, as one lab involved a non-obvious egg product, and I didn't find out about it until it was too late (I was in the middle of the lab!). I told the instructors that performing some of these labs was against my sincerely held religious and ethical beliefs. Your instructors will be (understandably) annoyed if they think you are trying to avoid work or are being squeamish. And you will really get their backs up if you say the labs are cruel -- after all, they designed the labs themselves, and may be involved in animal research. So if you say the labs are cruel, you are saying that they are cruel people. I think you are more likely to get an alternative if you frame it as being against your personal beliefs to do that lab. I avoided getting into debates. Your prof may try to interrogate you about your beliefs, try to convince you that your beliefs are wrong, or insist that you convince them that your beliefs are correct. Don't get drawn into this! For example, if you were Jewish and could not write an exam on a Jewish holiday, you would not have to convert your prof to Judaism for your beliefs to be accommodated. Try to stay calm regardless of what your instructor is saying, and keep steering the conversation back to your right to complete the course without being penalized for your beliefs. I proposed alternatives. If you can come up with an alternative assignment, you are more likely to be accommodated. Firstly, you will be saving your instructor the work of investigating alternatives, and secondly you will be making it harder for hir to claim that no alternatives exist. (NORINA is a database of alternatives.) As it happened, my instructors did not like the alternatives I proposed. However, I still think it was useful to take that step as it indicated that I was not trying to avoid work or be difficult. I got support. I discussed what I was going through with Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who provided me with understanding and emotional support and encouraged me to keep trying. I also contacted other pro-animal groups and got them to fax letters of support: Engineers and Scientists for Animal Rights ESAR01@aol.com Other groups you could contact are: American Anti-Vivisection Society I learned about my legal rights. In the U.S., there have been cases where students have sued for the right to an education consistent with their ethical beliefs, and have won. See the Animal Rights Law Center's website for more information. They have also published a helpful book, Vivisection and Dissection in the Classroom: A Guide to Conscientious Objection. There have not been any legal cases in Canada, however, I consulted a lawyer who told me that if I was subjected to an academic penalty because of my beliefs, it could be a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of creed. When it was necessary, I sent my instructor a letter from my lawyer. After months of getting nowhere talking with various people at UofT, I showed them a letter my lawyer had sent me, outlining my legal options. I think it is better to avoid bringing in lawyers, as it creates an adversarial mood. However, in this case, it seemed necessary. And it worked like magic! Once my instructors realized what they were doing might be a violation of the Human Rights Code, they decided to offer me an alternative. This article originally appeared on the UofT SETA website (unfortunately, this group is now inactive). At the time of writing, I was a student in the Nutritional Sciences programme at the University of Toronto. I updated the contact list April 13, 2003. | 
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