Ending the Use of Animals

Alternatives Student Choice No Random Source

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No Random Source Animals Policies

No random source animals policies prohibit the acquisition of animals from Class B dealers and pounds. In addition to helping to pass student choice policies, students can help promote other types of policies that can help eliminate the harmful use of animals in education at their schools. One example is a No Random Source Class B Dealer Policy, which is a university-wide policy that explicitly prohibits the acquisition of animals from these types of Class B dealers. Such policies promote a willingness on the part of a university to avoid these dealers, thus not contributing to the inhumane treatment that animals often encounter when acquired, housed, and transported.

Iowa State University (ISU) is an example of a university that has instituted a No Random Source Class B Dealer policy. The stated purpose of the policy is to assure the public that no stolen pets are used in research and education³⁷⁷. Other universities could easily follow ISU’s lead and institute similar policies, avoiding the ethical dilemma that purchasing animals from Class B dealers presents (See Appendix B.5. to view a sample, No Random Source Animals Policy).

To promote humane treatment to both companion and other animals, it is critical that universities enacting such a policy seek out humane sources of animals, and do not replace the animals from random source Class B dealers with those from other potentially inhumane sources, including Class A dealers and animals obtained through pound seizure.

³⁷⁷Purchase of Dogs and Cats from USDA Class B Licensees. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)- University Policies. Undated. Iowa State University. 20 Feb 2009. http://www.compliance.iastate.edu/ComplianceWeb/coacUniversityLaw.aspx.html#teaching. « previous (Student Choice) | next (Conclusion) »