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AgVetLink: Number 58, October 2006

ANZCCART Conference: Responsibilities – the 4th R

Warren Hughes attended the ANZCCART (Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching) conference held in Canberra, Australia, on 3-5 September 2006. The theme of the conference was ‘Responsibility – the 4th R’, with the other 3 Rs standing for reduction, replacement and refinement. There was significant emphasis on university teaching in relation to this theme. Unfortunately, there were few presentations from research institutes/commercial companies.

One interesting area of discussion was use of animals in teaching methods at veterinary schools. One paper suggested that such teaching could be done without using animals by instead relying on such techniques as computer simulations and dummies. However, this was a contentious issue and was widely debated.

A wide range of sectors attended and presentations were made by a number of international speakers.