Alternatives to Dissection in Secondary Schools

Foreword

Dissection is the act of cutting open preserved animals for the purpose of education on the internal structures. This is a basic requirement in the Biology 11 and 12 courses offered in the British Columbia secondary school curriculum. I oppose to this requirement for the following reasons:

1. Moral reasons

(i) Discourages compassion for living beings. Animals are viewed as mere tools to be used and discarded at will. Students are desensitized to the living, feeling beings animals are.

(ii) Teaches insensitivity and promotes disrespect at all for animals by cutting up, manipulating and disposing animal remains for our selfish convenience.

(iii) Condones cruelty and violence in both animals and humans. Violent acts toward animals have long been recognized as indicators of a dangerous psychopathology that does not confine itself to animals. Many of the young high-school shooters tortured animals before they turned on their peers.

(iv) Supports cruelty to animals.

· Studies from the early 1970s revealed that frogs were taken from the wild throughout North America, Canada, and Mexico. Most were kept in sacks of 100 or more for long periods, then "stored" in large tubs for months without food until schools placed an order. Shipped off 50 to a box, many arrived overheated, hyperactive, or convulsing. Not surprisingly, many did not survive at all. When they are "prepared" for dissection, frogs are usually dropped in a water-and-alcohol solution, which can take up to 20 minutes to cause death. Investigations in the late 1990s found no improvements to the system.

· An investigation of Carolina Biological Supply Company (CBSC), the largest animal supply business in the United States, found cats arriving in crowded cages, being poked with metal hooks, and finally sent into gas chambers (some giving birth or making sounds after the gassing, indicating they were not yet dead).

· In 1991, CBSC was charged with ten violations of the Animal Welfare Act, one charge being embalming cats who were still alive.

· In 1995, authorities raided a farm in Mexico harboring 800 cats whose throats were cut and were set for shipment to U.S. schools. Similar operations were reported in other Mexican border states.

Even though regulations have become stricter, no one knows for sure if the animals are treated in a humane method before and at death. Moreover, even if our school buys from ethnical sources, it is still supporting this industry.

(v) Teaches the idea of levels, decided by humans, in animals. It is fine to dissect a rat, yet it is not to dissect a cat. This does not promote respect for all “levels” of animals, it only suggests to students that an animal’s life and death is subjected to our whims.

(vi) Applies that it is correct to exploit the weak because humans are strong. Not only does this view encourage animal abuse, it is also connected with abuse in humans.

(vii) Biology is the science of learning the wonders of living creatures, it should not have to involve the killing of living beings to learn about them.

(viii) Sensitive and compassionate students are forced to perform tasks extremely uncomfortable for them, which also goes against their respect for animals. Some students genuinely interested in biology avoid taking the course because of the dissection requirement.

(ix) Students with little interest in pursuing a career in science don't need to see actual organs to understand basic physiology. Students who are planning on pursuing a career in biology or medicine would do better to study anatomy on new alternatives, such as computer models (for reasons, please see section 5 Alternatives). Moreover, those who are disturbed by the prospect of cutting up animals will be too preoccupied by their concerns to learn the desired value from the dissection.

2. Physical reasons

(i) The Environment:

(1) The removal of animals from their natural habitats for use in classrooms can disrupt the ecosystem and sets a negative example for wildlife conservation and environmental protection.

(2) Chemicals used to preserve dead specimens, such as formaldehyde and formalin (diluted form of formaldehyde) are respiratory irritants, carcinogenic (cancer-causing) in humans, and environmental pollutants. Careless or irresponsible disposal of these preservatives or animal remains can contaminate water and soil and potentially harm wildlife.

(ii) Costs more than alternative methods
The cost of purchasing tools and preserved cadavers (on an annual basis) for dissection adds up over time. On the contrary, non-animal alternatives can be used again and again for years to come, and multiple students can share a single software.

3. Facts

(i) “As a pathologist, I perform careful dissections every day…Decades later, I’ve come to regret [the] dissections [in public schools] and have since studied computerized alternatives that are extremely comprehensive. As a doctor who performs autopsies, I can assure students that computer images of well-preserved tissues look more like the "real thing" than the squishy gray organs of a formalin-fixed specimen. Simulated dissection is very realistic, the accompanying text is elegant, and the graphics are superb. Computerized alternatives are rapidly replacing animals in medical and veterinary colleges across the country. And the same is true at earlier levels of training. That means that younger students can easily learn biology by taking advantage of state-of-the-art methods that do not involve dissecting at all.” Nancy L. Harrison, M.D., Scripps Memorial Hospital Chula Vista, Department of Pathology

(ii) It is estimated that thousands of animals, ranging from earthworms to pigs, are killed for dissection in high schools of Canada each year. Life is sacrificed in the name of science, yet does it really yield the desired result?

(iii) About 170 species, including at least 10 million vertebrates, are killed annually for education in the United States alone.

(iv) Numerous studies have demonstrated that students who perform animal-based laboratory exercises perform no better on anatomy tests than students who employ alternatives (Downie & Meadows, 1995). In fact, students who use such "hi tech" methods as interactive CD ROMs tend to score higher, on average, than their dissecting peers (Hepner, 1992).

(v) The Ontario government purchased a license for the "Dissection Works" simulation computer software, which provides digital dissections of five different species. This software is available free of charge to all public school boards in Ontario

(vi) In the United States, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia all have dissection choice laws or policies that allow students, who are in grades K-12 and attend public school, to refuse to participate in classroom exercises—particularly dissections—that are harmful to animals. These laws allow students to choose humane alternatives, require that students are not penalized for choosing these alternatives, and often requires the schools to notify both student and parents at the beginning of a class that involves animal dissection.

4. Arguments against replacing dissection

(i) Dissection offers practice in necessary manual skills.

Are these manual skills really necessary for most of the students in biology classes? Do students have to dissect to learn the necessary knowledge? The necessary manual skills learnt have absolutely no use for a student who is not intended to pursue a career in biology concerning humans or animals, such as a doctor or veterinarian. Furthermore, non-animal alternatives such as plant dissections could be used to teach these manual skills.

(ii) The “hands-on” nature of dissection activities allows for tactile learning

Anatomical models, that can be used over and over again, also appeals to tactile learning, they also cost much less over the years. Also, models requite less time to clean up, making more class time for the crowded syllabus. Accordingly, other alternatives appeal to visual and auditory learning, which is much more interesting to visual and auditory learners.

(iii) Helps students remember more clearly

Computer simulations can be done again and again on the part the student does not understand, this is far more useful for memorization than animal specimens, which can be used only once. In addition, should lives be killed for the sole purpose of helping memorization?

(iv) The school doesn’t have enough money in its budget to purchase alternatives. Many groups, such as the American Anti-Vivisection Society or the National Anti-Vivisection Society, have stated they will loan alternatives to Canadian schools. Moreover, alternatives to dissection are more economical over time; many students can make use of one CD-ROM for instance, but dissection requires that multiple animals be purchased time after time

(v) If we make an exception for you, other students will claim that they have the right to be excluded from all sorts of requirements.

This does not address the issue at hand: the students’ right not to be forced to violate their beliefs as part of their education. There is no quota on how many people are allowed to exercise their rights, and rights cannot be taken away because a lot of people are exercising them.

(vi) Students who choose the alternative will have less to do than those doing the dissection, it will become a way out for lazy students.

Actually students will be required to do the same amount of work, as they have to look through and learn the same amount of information, and are required to complete the same amount of homework.

5. Alternatives

Comparison from a teacher’s point of view

Simulations and Models
Dissection

Students can (or must) repeat the exercise until they get it correct.
If students make a mistake, the specimen is ruined. They can’t go back and try again.

Students’ knowledge is tested at every step; students must show a grasp of the concepts before advancing.
Difficult for the teacher to monitor every group of students; errors may not be caught until too late, when the specimen is destroyed.

Information about organs, their function and location is available at the click of a mouse.
Some students are too concerned with the procedure to gain the desired knowledge.

On-screen videos of actual dissections allow students a close-up look at the procedure.
Demonstrations by the teachers are not easily seen by all students.

Programs can be edited to meet specific students’ needs.
All students need to complete the same dissection procedure, resulting in some students feeling frustrated.

Software is loaded onto existing computers; students who miss a lab due to illness can make it up at any time.
Requires lab supplies to be set out before the lab, and cleaned up and put away afterwards. Difficult for a student to make up a missed lab.

Students can learn about biology without feeling they are responsible for an animal’s death or adding to the diminishment of a species.
Students may act out during a dissection lab, often because they don’t know how to express their ethical concerns, or don’t feel comfortable enough to express their feelings appropriately.

Labs are not restricted to a certain amount of time. Students can spend extra time if desired.
Labs are restricted to a short time only due to safety concerns.

(i) Computer programs

- Interactive lessons where students need to follow procedures and demonstrate knowledge of the various organs and their functions.

- Clear, 3D graphics

- Additional information or facts on the organs and species

(ii) Videotapes/ DVDs

- Clear view of the complete process

- Can be shown to whole class and stopped for explanation

(iii) Anatomical Models

- Excellent for tactile students

- Easier to clean up and stored

(iv) Charts, posters and transparencies

- Convenient for teachers to explain to the whole class

6. Programs/ Resources

(i) Loaning programs

All software, videotapes, anatomical models, chart etc. are available free with only the cost of returning postage. The following organizations have agreed to lend to Canadian schools or humane organizations.

· The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Education Loan Program (http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/animals_in_education/humane_education_loan_program_help/materials_available_through_help.html)

· The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), Dissection Alternatives Loan Program (http://www.navs.org/education/dissection_loan_program.cfm?sectionID=Education)

· Animalearn, The Science Bank (http://www.humanestudent.org/docs/sb/index.php?PHPSESSID=c1e884fe4751957ea95c01bab913339e )

(ii) Free online programs

· Very complete list available at Learning Without Killing’s alternative list (http://www.learningwithoutkilling.com/links_and_lists/alternatives.htm)

The following are recommended sites

· Net Frog (http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog/)

Audio to guide through the whole dissection with videos for each step; Guess What? Button for extra facts; Try it button for checking if the organs can be pointed out properly; and underlined words with glossary definitions.

· Virtual Pig Dissection (http://www.whitman.edu/biology/vpd/main.html)

Clear pictures of all organs; detailed facts and explanations; and an excellent interactive quiz section for testing what has been learnt.

(iii) Recommended Software

· Digital Frog International (http://www.digitalfrog.com/) offers excellent graphics, a vast amount of biology, anatomy and ecology information, and comes with a reproducible student workbook.

· The BioLab series offers both a frog and fetal pig program that come with student worksheets.

· ScienceWorks (http://www.scienceclass.com/) and DryLab (http://www.duncansoftware.com/index.shtml) have simulations of a variety of animals.

(iv) There is also an excellent, well-researched book that can be downloaded for free over the internet. The Use of Animals in Higher Education by Jonathan Balcombe is available from the Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/animals_in_education/the_use_of_animals_in_higher_education_problems_alternatives_and_recommendations.html)