Made by: Hannah Easley
Imagine being ripped away from your home, put in very small cages, and being killed for dissection. That's what happens when you used animals for dissection.
This happens to frogs, mice, rabbits, fetal pigs, cats, and more.
Let's look more into this.
Cats
Cats are taken away from the streets, shelters, or even cats that could have been very loved by a family.
Once they take them, they put them in a horribly small cage and are abused.
PETA investigators documented cases in which animals were removed from gas chambers and injected with formaldehyde without first being checked for vital signs, a violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Formaldehyde is a severely irritating caustic substance that causes a painful death. Investigators’ video footage documents incidences in which cats and rats were struggling during injection and employees were spitting on them.
Rabbits
Reality for these rabbits used for dissection very painful, (like all of the poor animals used to dissection.)
One rabbit, still alive after being gassed, tried to crawl out of a wheelbarrow full of water and dead rabbits. Employees laughed as a coworker held the rabbit’s head underwater and pulled him out just as death seemed near, repeating the process again and again until, bored with the “game,” the employee held the animal’s head underwater long enough to drown him. Rabbits aren't toys.
Frogs
Sadly, frogs are the most commonly dissected animals in classes below the university level, although other species, like cats, mice, rats, dogs, rabbits, fetal pigs, and fish, are also sometimes used. Frogs are also among the first species to succumb to environmental pollution and habitat destruction, and their deaths are often the first indicators of environmental problems because they’re so sensitive to their surroundings.
All species of frogs are disappearing from the Earth at an alarming rate, with a devastating and not yet fully understood environmental impact. As a result, some frog populations have crashed, wiping out entire species. Populations of grass frogs and bullfrogs, the most common victims of high school dissection, are threatened by both mass collection and environmental hazards. Some are even performed on alive during dissection.
Pigs
Many students object to using fetal pigs because of their concern for the treatment of animals raised for human consumption. Almost all of the 97 million pigs slaughtered annually for human consumption in the United States are raised in crowded, confined conditions, where they are deprived of space, fresh air, and fresh forage for the duration of their shortened lives.
Many also have their tails cut off and their teeth excised as piglets. The fetuses that end up in dissection trays are taken from pregnant sows at the slaughterhouse. Some biological supply houses breed animals such as mice,: obtain fetal pigs from slaughterhouses that cut them from their mothers' are killed: and trap or take other types of animals from a variety of locations.
Mice
Mice, or other small animals used for dissection are nothing but dollar signs for breeders who kill them and sell their corpses. Millions of animals are killed every year, in high schools alone, including the unknown number of animals used for college or middle school grades. Many mice, or rats are even embalmed.
Alternatives to Dissection
Numerous studies have shown that students using humane alternatives learn as well, if not better, than students who dissect.
- Observation of animals in their natural habitat
- Anatomical models such as the “Great American Bullfrog”
- Computer programs such as Visifrog and The Rat Stack
- CD-ROMS such as the Cat Dissection Library CD-ROM, Bio-Lab Invertebrate D-ROM, and the Biology Dissection CD-ROM
- Non-animal projects such as the Bio-Feedback Micro-lab
- Videotapes
- Videodiscs
- Charts
- Transparencies
- Slides
- Books and manuals
- Online virtual dissection kits such as the Whole Frog Project.
The Expense
In the long run, dissection alternatives are less expensive than dissecting live animals. Unlike the former, alternatives such as CD ROMS can be used time and time again, therein permitting students to practice the techniques as many times as they need to truly learn the material. In addition, they are typically accompanied by a manual and do not require supplementary tools such as scalpels or dissections pans.
States that Have Dissection Choice Laws
States with informed student consent laws (K-12):
- California, 1988, Cal. Education Code Section 32255.1-32255.6
- Florida, 2003, Fla. Stat. ch. 233.0674 (2001) 1003.47
- Illinois, 2000, 105 ILCS 5/27-13.1
- New Jersey, 2005, 18A:35-4.24 and 18A:35-4.25
- New York, 1994, N.Y. Educ. Law Section 809
- Oregon, 2005, OR REV. STAT. § 337.300
- Pennsylvania, 1992, 24 P.S. § 15-1523
- Rhode Island, 1997, Gen.Laws 1956, § 16-22-20
- Vermont, 2008, 16 V.S.A. § 912
- Virginia, 2004, Va. Code Ann. § 22.1-200.01 (2004)
States with student choice policies:
- Maine, 1989 (State Dept. of Ed policy)
- Maryland, 1997 (majority of individual county policies)
States with legislation proposing student choice:
- Michigan, HB 4218
- Tennessee, HJR 1077
Read each state’s individual law.
Passing a Student Choice Policy
Ask your school to adopt a student dissection choice policy.
Ask your school district or state Department of Education to adopt a student dissection choice policy. More information
Maybe dissecting isn't that good after all.
