Animals are used in university teaching across ecology, psychology, biology, and agriculture, with welfare standards varying enormously outside the medical research regulatory framework.
Teaching use of animals in universities occupies a regulatory grey area in many countries, particularly outside biomedical research contexts. Animals used for dissection, demonstration, or student psychology experiments may not receive the same ethical review as research animals. The availability and quality of alternatives has improved dramatically — virtual dissection, simulation, and observational studies of freely behaving animals can meet most educational objectives without causing harm. Universities that maintain strong animal ethics oversight of teaching activities, and that proactively offer alternatives, demonstrate the institutional values they wish to instil in future professionals.