Dissection
Dissection is the practice of cutting into and studying animals. Every
year, 5.7 million animals are used in secondary and college science classes.
Each animal sliced open and discarded represents not only a life lost,
but also just a small part of a trail of animal abuse and environmental
havoc.
Suppliers
Frogs are the most commonly dissected animals below the university level;
other species include cats, mice, rats, worms, dogs, rabbits, fetal pigs,
and fishes. The animals may come from breeding facilities which cater
to institutions and businesses that use animals in experiments; they may
have been caught in the wild, or they could be stolen or abandoned companion
animals. Some of the cats killed are even companion animals who had "escaped"
from their homes. Slaughterhouses and pet stores also sell animals and
animal parts to biological supply houses.
There are cases of animals being removed from gas chambers and injected
with formaldehyde without first being checked for vital signs (a violation
of the Animal Welfare Act). Formaldehyde is an irritating caustic substance
which causes a painful death. People have seen animals struggling during
infusion, and employees spitting on the animals.
Depleting the Ecosystem
Frogs are captured in the wild to stock breeding ponds because populations
die out if not replenished. A completely independent frog colony has never
survived long without the introduction of "outside" frogs.
In their natural habitat, frogs consume large numbers of insects responsible
for crop destruction and the spread of disease. In the years preceding
India's ban on the frog trade, that country was earning $10 million a
year from frog exports, but spending $100 million to import chemical pesticides
to fight insect infestations. In addition, economic losses in agricultural
produce were heavy. Today, Bangladesh is the main Asian market for frogs,
and in the United States, scientists have noted severe declines in frog
and toad populations that they blame on the capture of these animals for
food and experiments, as well as on causes of general environmental decline
such as the use of pesticides and habitat destruction.
Killing Compassion
Classroom dissection desensitizes students to the sanctity of life and
can encourage students to harm animals elsewhere, perhaps in their own
backyard. In fact, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer attributed his fascination
with murder and mutilation to classroom dissections. In the last interview
before his death, shown on Dateline NBC, Dahmer stated, "In 9th
grade, in biology class, we had the usual dissection of fetal pigs, and
I took the remains of the pig home and kept the skeleton of it, and I
just started branching out to dogs, cats." According to Dahmer, he enjoyed
the excitement and power he experienced when cutting up animals and fantasized
about cutting up a human body.
Students with little or no interest in pursuing a career in science certainly
don't need to see actual organs to understand basic physiology, and students
who are planning on pursuing a career in biology or medicine would do
better to study humans in a controlled, supervised setting, or to study
human cadavers or some of the sophisticated alternatives, such as computer
models. Those who are rightfully disturbed by the prospect of cutting
up animals will be too preoccupied by their concerns to learn anything
of value during the dissection.
Students Speak Up
More and more students are taking a stand against dissection before it
happens in their classes, from the elementary school level on up to veterinary
and medical school. In 1987, Jenifer Graham objected to dissection and
was threatened with a lower grade. Jenifer went to court to plead her
case and later testified before the California legislature, which responded
by passing a law giving students in the state the right not to dissect.
Jenifer's mother and the National Anti-Vivisection Society have set up
a hotline for students who want to avoid dissection. Since Jenifer's case,
thousands of students have opted to study biology in humane ways, and
many schools have accepted the students' right to violence-free education.
Alternatives
Students and teachers may choose from a wide range of sophisticated alternatives
to dissection. The typical science "lab" at many schools now emphasizes
computers rather than animal cadavers. There are computer programs such
as VisiFrog and books, such as The Anatomy Coloring Book and The Zoology
Coloring Book, that offer humane science lessons.
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