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The Three Rs Animal Welfare Principles for research, testing and teaching The Three Rs — replacement, reduction and refinement — were first introduced by the authors Russell and Burch in their 1959 book, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique (available through the Johns Hopkins Alt Web website and the abridged version on the norecopa website ). Since then these ideas have become fundamental principles in the area of animal welfare for research, testing and teaching. Replacement Accelerating the development and use of predictive and robust models and tools, based on the latest science and technologies, to replace the use of animals in addressing important research questions where they would have otherwise been used. Reduction Appropriately designed and analysed animal experiments that are robust and reproducible, and add to the knowledge base. Refinement Advancing laboratory animal welfare by exploiting the latest in vivo technologies to minimise pain, suffering and distress and improve understanding of the impact of welfare on scientific outcomes. Booklets outlining examples of the application of these principles can be found here .

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Applying for Animal Ethics Approval This page contains information about why you need to apply for ethics approval and how you can apply. When do you need to consider applying for animal ethics approval? You need to consider applying for animal ethics approval when using animals in teaching or in an investigation or experiment when the animal is being ‘manipulated’. This means that you are changing the animal’s normal needs, like what it eats and drinks, where it lives/sleeps or things it does (like its type of toys) in some way. This type of change (manipulation) is when ethics approval is needed and is required under New Zealand’s law called the Animal Welfare Act. Ethics approval means that a special group of people, such as science teachers and animal welfare experts have reviewed the way that your scientific experiment or investigation with animal(s) is being carried out. When they review it, they check that what is planned will not harm the animal(s) and its good health is maintained. If this group thinks that what is planned will not harm the animal(s), they will grant ethics approval. Who might need to apply for animal ethics approval? Any teacher and/or science technician using or caring for animals (e.g. for a Science Fair) in a learning or class situation should check with the New Zealand Schools Animal Ethics Committee if they need approval. Any student carrying out an investigation or experiment that involves animals should check if they need approval. In New Zealand , this includes any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, octopus, squid, crab, lobster, or crayfish, including any mammalian foetus, or any avian or reptilian pre-hatched young, that is in the last half of its period of gestation or development, but excludes any animal in the pre-natal, pre-hatched, larval, or other such developmental stage (other than those indicated previously). Marsupial pouch young are also considered animals. The Application Process If you do need to apply for animal ethics approval for a teaching activity or for your science fair project, you need to complete a form and submit it to an Animal Ethics Committee (AEC). The New Zealand Association for Science Education has their own AEC for teachers, science technicians and students who can approve your application. For more information, visit the New Zealand Schools Animal Ethics website . In general, the AEC wants to ensure that the animals that you use will be well treated and subjected to the minimal amount of harm or disruption. All manipulations must be carried out under the umbrella of the animal welfare principles of the Three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement). When you are writing your animal ethics application, make sure you outline the benefits of carrying out the experiment or investigation and also fully consider the harm to the animal(s). The AEC will make a risk-benefit assessment. This means that if the risk of harm to the animals high (for example, the experiment is quite invasive) then the benefits must also be high (for example, the potential of a new medicine). However, if the risk is low (for example, playing music to your fish) then the potential benefit does not need to be very high (for example, it might help you and your class better understand how well fish hear). You also need to meet the normal husbandry requirements for the animal including providing food, shelter, warmth, safety and room to behave normally. Lastly, you need to show that you have considered the Three Rs animal welfare principles in the design of your experiment or investigation. Links: Ethical guidelines for school students (2008 ANZCCART resource) (PDF, 108 kb, 1 page) NZ Association of Science Educators (NZASE) website on animal ethics

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ANZCCART Conference 2008 Blue Sky to deep water: the reality and the promise Proceedings of the 2008 ANZCCART Conference Auckland, New Zealand Preliminary pages Introduction Mark Fisher Welcome John Martin SESSION 1: Sharing experiences (dilemmas and compliance) Doing animal experimentation in a national organisation with regional responsibilities under state legislation Dr Chris Prideaux ( See PowerPoint presentation – PDF, 629 kb, 18 pages) Meeting animal welfare needs in a biotherapies environment- challenges for the CSL/Pfizer Animal Ethics Committee Dr John Phelps Assessing a research project with reference to the big picture Grant Shackell International benchmarking: AAALAC International Accreditation Dr Kathryn Bayne SESSION 2: Transgenics and modelling Modelling human muscle activity Professor Andrew Pullan Using zebrafish in human disease research: some advantages, disadvantages and ethical considerations Dr Michael Lardelli (See PowerPoint presentation – PDF, 5.6 MB, 26 pages) The benefits of using sheep to model human brain disease Jessie Jacobsen et al. SESSION 3: Great idea but not necessarily what I expected Great idea but not necessarily what I expected (Sometimes the techniques worked; sometimes they didn’t) Dr Allan Goldenthal, Dr Glen Harrison (See Powerpoint presentation – PDF, 1MB, 10 pages) Julie Hitchens ( PowerPoint presentation) Dr Jacqueline Keenan (PowerPoint presentation) Associate Professor Donald Love SESSION 4: Challenging ethics A brief but practical summary of ethics James Battye The Cam Reid Oration: Should we be giving attention to justifying animals in science? Dr Mark Fisher Infrared thermography and heart rate variability for non-invasive assessment of animal welfare Dr Mairi Stewart et al. (ANZCCART Student Award winner) ( PowerPoint presentation) SESSION 5: Death as an event, death as a challenge Euthanasing animals-the human experience Dr Erich von Dietz ( PowerPoint presentation) Managing grief associated with euthanasia Dr Dianne Gardner ( PowerPoint presentation) Recruiting Rats to the Research Resort: the importance of well trained resort personnel Dr John Schofield SESSION 6: Wildlife and conservation The artificial incubation of kiwi eggs: a conservation tool Suzanne Bassett and Claire Travers ( PowerPoint presentation) Researching wildlife in New Zealand: conservation opportunities are both constraints and opportunities Dr Mark Hauber Animal welfare issues in vertebrate pest management and research in New Zealand Dr Penny Fisher et al. SESSION 7: Fish welfare Working towards the development of best practices in fish and fisheries research or The troubles with fish and fish biologists! Howard Gill, Carolyn Ashton and Andrew Rowland The fish: What potential for awareness? Dr Colin Johnston ( PowerPoint presentation) “Pain” and analgesia in fish: What we know, what we don’t know, and what we need to know before using analgesics in fish Dr Don Stevens

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