State Humanitarian University, Faculty of Physiology and Life Sciences
Department of Biology
The contact was established through a bioethics conference in Poltava in November 2014, where project leader Dimitrij Leporskij gave a lecture. Dr Nataliya Gritsay, Head of the Department of Biology at Rivne State Humanitarian University, was interested in humane education and contacted Dimitrij. The reasons for switching to animal-free teaching methods were obvious for her:
- Protection of the biodiversity in the Rivne region
- Promoting conservation awareness among students
- Implementation of students' right not to participate in cruel dissections.
The agreement was signed in March 2015. Previously, the curriculum included dissections of various insects, mussels, worms, fish, rats, and pigeons, as well as classic experiments on cardiac, muscle, and nerve physiology using the organs of decapitated frogs. Guinea pigs were used for blood tests, and sheep were used for immunology studies. 525 vertebrates and 255 invertebrates are now saved from death each year.
The department received a projector, four suture models, and numerous DVDs and CD-ROMs with films and programs on animal morphology and physiology.
According to the agreement signed in March 2015, the university teachers undertake to stop all animal use in education at the beginning of the new semester on September 1, 2015.
Head of Department Dr Nataliya Gritsay.
The donated multi-media projector in use.