Geoffrey Deckers Award winners reducing use of animals in education in Bulgaria
Three Bulgarian Universities have committed to phasing-out the use of animals in science education after attending the country’s first ever conference on the subject, organised and funded by the 2023 winners of the Geoffrey Deckers Award, Campaigns and Activism for Animals in the Industry (CAAI).
The annual award recognises outstanding contributions to ending animal testing, in memory of the much-loved former Chair of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments and Cruelty Free Europe, who passed away in June 2020.
Both The Thrace University and Sofia’s University of Forestry – who, as the only two Universities in Bulgaria to offer education in veterinary medicine, organised the ‘Conference on Innovations in Education – Science Without Animal Experiments’ in partnership with CAAI – have now confirmed their intention to replace the use of animals in education.
CAAI, along with one of the conference’s headline speakers, Nick Jukes, co-ordinator of the International Network for Humane Education (INTERNiche), were immediately invited to meet with the Dean of the University of Forestry, Assoc. Prof. Krasimira Ivanova Genova, to discuss planning and funding for the phase-out of animal experiments.
Medical University Pleven, which hopes to become the third to start training for veterinarians, have also asked for help with finding and buying more humane equipment for their Veterinary and Physiology departments.
In addition to these three Universities, the Animal Ethics Committee of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency will continue to reduce the number of animals used in its laboratories and have shared the event’s presentations with Agency staff.
Bulgaria has for several years led the EU in the percentage of animals used for educational purposes, with usage ranging from 12-to-50-times higher than most other EU member states.
Our Deputy Director of Science and Regulatory Affairs, Laura Rego Alvarez gave a presentation detailing the number of animals currently being used in Bulgaria and across the EU for the purposes of education and training, including some specific examples of authorised projects involving animals from published non-technical summaries, and highlighted the need for a targets-based strategy to phase out the use of animals for education and training and all other scientific purposes across the EU.
Over 120 people attended the conference, held in Sofia in October, including Professors and students from Universities across Bulgaria as well as lecturers from the UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, USA, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After fulfilling their aims of sharing expertise in the latest non-animal methods, and how to receive funding for them, Vladimir Nguyen of CAAI said: “Receiving the Geoffrey Deckers Award helped CAAI to organize this conference. It was inspiring to follow Deckers’ example as a dedicated animal protection campaigner. We will continue our work for phasing out animal experiments on national and international levels, together with InterNICHE, Doctors Against Animal Experiments and Cruelty Free Europe. We are very grateful for the help of Eurogroup for Animals and other partners and sponsors that supported the conference.”
Bulgaria has for several years led the EU in the percentage of animals used for educational purposes, with usage ranging from 12-to-50-times higher than most other EU member states.
Our Deputy Director of Science and Regulatory Affairs, Laura Rego Alvarez gave a presentation detailing the number of animals currently being used in Bulgaria and across the EU for the purposes of education and training, including some specific examples of authorised projects involving animals from published non-technical summaries, and highlighted the need for a targets-based strategy to phase out the use of animals for education and training and all other scientific purposes across the EU.
Over 120 people attended the conference, held in Sofia in October, including Professors and students from Universities across Bulgaria as well as lecturers from the UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, USA, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After fulfilling their aims of sharing expertise in the latest non-animal methods, and how to receive funding for them, Vladimir Nguyen of CAAI said: “Receiving the Geoffrey Deckers Award helped CAAI to organize this conference. It was inspiring to follow Deckers’ example as a dedicated animal protection campaigner. We will continue our work for phasing out animal experiments on national and international levels, together with InterNICHE, Doctors Against Animal Experiments and Cruelty Free Europe. We are very grateful for the help of Eurogroup for Animals and other partners and sponsors that supported the conference.”