V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University
Faculty of Biology:
Department of Human and Animal Physiology and Biophysics
Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports:
Department of Biomedical Principles of Physical Culture
In spring 2009, we sent information packs to 150 Ukrainian universities. Prof Elena Chuyan, Head of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology at the Faculty of Biology in Simperopol, then contacted our Ukrainian project partner Dimitrij Leporskij. She had always found animal experiments distressing but didn’t know how to change things. Our project was exactly what she had been waiting for. She immediately convinced her colleague Elena Grabovskaya from the Faculty of Sports as well. In September 2009, we signed agreements with both heads of Departments. As a result, 761 animals per year—mainly frogs and rats, as well as 23 cats previously used in invasive brain experiments—no longer have to die.
Prof Elena Chuyan, Head of the Department of Animal and Human Physiology at the Faculty of Biology, and Elena Grabovskaya, Head of the Department of Biomedical Principles of Physical Culture at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sport, with the donated computer programs. Additioanlly two laptops were given to them.
The premiere of our Russian dubbed educational films on cardiac physiology and the demonstration of some computer programs were very well received by the lecturers. They were impressed by the high-quality, animal-free teaching materials.
At the University of Simferopol, even cats have been used in invasive brain experiments. Thanks to our project, this is now a thing of the past.
At the Department of Human and Animal Physiology and Biophysics of the Faculty of Biology, 260 frogs, 192 rats, 23 cats and 30 snails and at the Departement of Biomedical Principles of Physical Culture 384 frogs and 50 rats have been killed each year in student courses to demonstrate the physiological properties of various organ systems. The agreement signed in September 2009 determines that these experiments will be permanently replaced by animal-free teaching tools.
Control visit
The control visit took place in December 2010 and Prof Elena Chuyan and Elena Grabovskaya proudly reported that they had replaced all the animal experiments carried out in their departments. For both of them, the complete changeover was a logical step, as they had already established various harmless self-experiments before our contact.
Simferopol zur tierfreundlichsten Uni der Ukraine gewählt
In June 2011, the Faculty of Biology at the Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University Simperopol was awarded the university with the most humane education programme in Ukraine. The jury, consisting of representatives from Doctors Against Animal Experiments and InterNICHE, the International Network for Humane Education, recognised the university's efforts to completely replace animal experiments in student education and to develop its own animal-free teaching methods. At the award ceremony, Prof Elena Chuyan, Head of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology, received a bronze frog as a prize.
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