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The Brazilian government has published a resolution that bans animal use in some practical classes within undergraduate and high school technical education from April 2019. Resolution No. 38/2018, issued by the National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA), bans the killing of animals for dissection purposes and animal experiments in practical classes that do not involve the acquisition of new skills. The initial call for the ban was by the Brazilian Network for Humane Education (RedEH), an independent body comprising Brazilian professors and international collaborators dedicated to the implementation of replacement alternatives in education. The call was supported by InterNICHE, and many professors and other international organisations. The Brazilian Council of Veterinary Medicine, which is responsible for regulating the veterinary profession in Brazil, also stated its support for humane education and for the ban. The call was the first formal request, and it eventually led to the first legal resolution for the replacement of animal use in education in Brazil. This represents an important historic landmark in the advancement of science education.

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Cada vez mais a prática da experimentação em animais vivos vem provocando consideráveis e crescentes preocupações políticas e públicas. Diante de um cenário polêmico provocado por este uso, um fator que vem propiciando importantes reflexões, interno à própria ciência, é a tendência na assimilação do conceito dos 3Rs (substituição, redução e refinamento) por parte da comunidade científica. Soma-se a isso o acesso cada vez maior de literatura (inclusive midiática) sobre a condição de consciência e emoções provenientes dos estudos de comportamento animal, situando o animal experimental em uma nova perspetiva, com dilemas sérios e impactantes sobre a atividade científica. Este artigo pretende explorar aspectos conceituais da perspectiva dos 3Rs, de sua concepção ao seu impacto na cultura científica brasileira, apresentar o que caracterizo como um complicador desta perspectiva (em particular no que se refere aos estudos do comportamento animal) e finalizar com considerações sobre o conflito inerente entre os 3Rs diante deste complicador.

Increasingly, the practice of experimentation on live animals has provoked considerable and growing political and public concern. Faced with a controversial scenario provoked by this use, a factor that has led to important reflections, internal to science itself, is the tendency in the assimilation of the concept of 3Rs (substitution, reduction and refinement) by the scientific community. In addition, there is an increasing access to literature (including media) on the condition of consciousness and emotions from animal behavior studies, placing the experimental animal in a new perspective with serious and shocking dilemmas about scientific activity. This article intends to explore conceptual aspects of the perspective of the 3Rs, from their conception to their impact on Brazilian scientific culture, to present what can be characterized as a complicator of this perspective (in particular with regard to animal behavior studies) and to conclude with considerations about the inherent conflict between the 3Rs in the face of this complicator.

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Cada vez mais a prática da experimentação em animais vivos vem provocando consideráveis e crescentes preocupações políticas e públicas. Diante de um cenário polêmico provocado por este uso, um fator que vem propiciando importantes reflexões, interno à própria ciência, é a tendência na assimilação do conceito dos 3Rs (substituição, redução e refinamento) por parte da comunidade científica. Soma-se a isso o acesso cada vez maior de literatura (inclusive midiática) sobre a condição de consciência e emoções provenientes dos estudos de comportamento animal, situando o animal experimental em uma nova perspetiva, com dilemas sérios e impactantes sobre a atividade científica. Este artigo pretende explorar aspectos conceituais da perspectiva dos 3Rs, de sua concepção ao seu impacto na cultura científica brasileira, apresentar o que caracterizo como um complicador desta perspectiva (em particular no que se refere aos estudos do comportamento animal) e finalizar com considerações sobre o conflito inerente entre os 3Rs diante deste complicador.(AU)

Increasingly, the practice of experimentation on live animals has provoked considerable and growing political and public concern. Faced with a controversial scenario provoked by this use, a factor that has led to important reflections, internal to science itself, is the tendency in the assimilation of the concept of 3Rs (substitution, reduction and refinement) by the scientific community. In addition, there is an increasing access to literature (including media) on the condition of consciousness and emotions from animal behavior studies, placing the experimental animal in a new perspective with serious and shocking dilemmas about scientific activity. This article intends to explore conceptual aspects of the perspective of the 3Rs, from their conception to their impact on Brazilian scientific culture, to present what can be characterized as a complicator of this perspective (in particular with regard to animal behavior studies) and to conclude with considerations about the inherent conflict between the 3Rs in the face of this complicator.(AU)

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The Brazilian Network for Humane Education (RedEH( is an independent and self-managed group comprised of academics from ten different Brazilian states and a number of international collaborators. In 2016, in a concerted effort to change the educational field in Brazil and propagate humane education, RedEH sent a request to the Brazilian National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA(, asking that harmful animal use in education in professional and undergraduate courses be banned. This was the first formal request for a total replacement of harmful animal use in education in Brazil, and represented a major historic landmark in the advancement of Brazilian science education. This paper presents the full text of the request, as well as outlining its national and international repercussions. The request was supported by InterNICHE and representatives of 18 other international organisations. A major national impact of the request was its recognition by the Federal Council of Veterinary Medicine. With this action, academics and researchers took a potentially revolutionary step in the Brazilian education arena, with regard to advancing and supporting a higher quality, ethical and democratic educational system.

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Humane education and the debate on alternatives to harmful animal use for training is a relatively recent issue in Brazil. While animal use in secondary education has been illegal since the late 1970s, animal use in higher science education is widespread. However, alternatives to animal experiments in research and testing have recently received attention from the Government, especially after the first legislation on animal experiments was passed, in 2008. This article proposes that higher science education should be based on a critical and humane approach. It outlines the recent establishment of the Brazilian Network for Humane Education (RedEH), as a result of the project, Mapping Animal Use for Undergraduate Education in Brazil, which was recognised by the 2014 Lush Prize. The network aims to create a platform to promote change in science education in Brazil, starting by quantitatively and qualitatively understanding animal use, developing new approaches adapted to the current needs in Brazil and Latin America, and communicating these initiatives nationally. This paper explores the trajectory of alternatives and replacement methods to harmful animal use in training and education, as well as the status of humane education in Brazil, from the point of view of educators and researchers engaged with the network.

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Animals are used for various purposes in the scientific realm and their use in teaching is highlighted in this research. Seeking to understand this use better, a questionnaire was administered to 427 students of medicine, pharmacy and biological sciences of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul federal universities. Data was gathered revealing high rates of feelings of discomfort, and the predominant interest in supporting the substitution of animals in the teaching environment. The conclusion reached is that the use of animals for teaching purposes has the ability to generate strong conflict, especially when the perception of animal suffering is identified by the students. Finally, three types of use of animals in the context of teaching are proposed.

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Animais são utilizados para diversos fins no âmbito científico, sendo destacado nesta pesquisa o emprego no ensino. Objetivando melhor caracterizar esse uso, um questionário foi aplicado a 427 estudantes de medicina, farmácia e ciências biológicas das universidades federais de Santa Catarina e Rio Grande do Sul. Uma série de dados pode ser levantada, como a elevada taxa de sensação de incômodo, e o interesse predominante de apoiar a substituição de animais no âmbito do ensino. Concluímos que o uso de animais para fins didáticos tem alto poder gerador de conflitos – especialmente quando a percepção do sofrimento animal é identificada pelos estudantes. Por fim, três tipos de uso de animais no contexto do ensino são propostos.

Animals are used for various purposes in the scientific realm and their use in teaching is highlighted in this research. Seeking to understand this use better, a questionnaire was administered to 427 students of medicine, pharmacy and biological sciences of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul federal universities. Data was gathered revealing high rates of feelings of discomfort, and the predominant interest in supporting the substitution of animals in the teaching environment. The conclusion reached is that the use of animals for teaching purposes has the ability to generate strong conflict, especially when the perception of animal suffering is identified by the students. Finally, three types of use of animals in the context of teaching are proposed.

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Animal experimentation, besides a research method extensively applied in the production of scientific knowledge, is also considered essential to science and with undeniable historical relevance in advances in human health. In this survey, a questionnaire was applied to a group of researchers involved with research based on non-animal models (n =18), and to another group involved with research based on animal models (n =18). The data analysis was grounded in Ludwik Fleck (1896 -1961) epistemological assumptions. The results suggested that there are at least two thought styles operating in consonance on the same research problem (advances in human health conditions) with significantly different conceptions not only concerning the research practices involved, but also the historical conceptions related to the role of animal experimentation.

A experimentação animal, além de método amplamente aplicado na produção do conhecimento científico, é considerada como essencial à ciência e com valor histórico inegável no progresso das condições de saúde humana. Neste levantamento, um questionário foi aplicado a um grupo de pesquisadores com trabalhos baseados em modelos não-animais (n =18) e a outro grupo com trabalhos baseados em modelos animais (n =18). A análise de dados se baseou nos pressupostos epitemológicos de Ludwik Fleck (1896-1961). Os dados sugerem que existem pelo menos dois estilos de pensamento operando em consonância sobre o mesmo problema de pesquisa (avanços nas condições de saúde humana), com concepções significativamente diferentes sobre as práticas de pesquisa envolvidas, assim como as concepções históricas relacionadas ao papel da experimentação animal.

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The very first law on animal experimentation has been approved recently in Brazil, and now is part of a set of the legal instruments that profile the Brazilian government's attitude toward the use of animals in experiments. Law 11794/08 establishes a new legal instrument that will guide new methods of conduct for ethics committees, researchers and representatives of animal protection societies. This comment aims to analyse critically the implications that this law brings to Brazilian reality. The link between it and the Russell and Burch's Three Rs concept is defined, and certain problems are identified. The conclusion is that the body of the law emphasises the refinement of animal experiments, but gives little importance to the principles of reduction and replacement.

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