The school and EquiBreed ART, in Te Awamutu, were recognised for their outstanding work in implementing the 3Rs principles (replacement, reduction and refinement) when working with animals, and were named joint winners of the 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand John Schofield 3Rs Award for their ethical use of animals in research, testing and teaching.
The competition aimed to improve animal welfare and replace and reduce the use of live animals where possible and refine study design, handling and housing of animals to improve life experiences.
An Otago Polytechnic spokesman said the institution was also proud to be the first polytechnic in the country to hold the Certified Low-Stress Handling for Dogs and Cats Award, and had strong oversight through an Animals@OP committee, which ensured all legal and ethical obligations were met where animals were involved.
National animal ethics advisory committee (NAEAC) chairwoman Prof Nat Waran said Otago Polytechnic addressed the "critical challenge" of ensuring veterinary nursing and allied animal healthcare learners graduated with the necessary competencies, while maintaining high standards of animal ethics.
"Their primary focus is to balance teaching safe, ethical, and effective handling and procedural skills, and recognising and mitigating animal stress, with ethical objectives and obligations," she said.
The co-recipients each received $5000, which would help the School of Animal Health continue its range of initiatives, including advanced training modules, staff development, research, continuing education and outreach activities, as well as enhancing dialogue on animal ethics.
