Have you ever had to dissect an animal? Well I am writing about why all schools should stop dissection. Not only is it cruel to animals but it is also expensive, teaches kids that animal’s lives have little importance, and there are other options out there. Dissection is quite simply unnecessary.

The first point I am writing about is the unnecessary killing of millions of animals. Around 12 million animals are cruelly killed for dissection. Some animals are even raised and murdered just for dissection.(2) What gives humans the right to kill animals for us to dissect them? Well the answer is nothing does. We don’t kill humans for dissection to teach students in medical school but yet we still have learned just about everything about the human body. We shouldn’t contribute to the unnecessary suffering and killing of animals for dissection.

Another reason why schools should stop dissection is because there are other options. There are online simulations that show everything the real thing could without causing harm to animals. Online simulations are also less expensive overall after the original investment. If schools used online dissection simulations and other resources it would cost a lot less money in the long run than dissection.(1) Another source says “Studies show that students who utilize humane dissection alternatives, such as models and computer software, score as well or better on performance tests than students who participate in dissection.”(2) This shows that there is no reason not to go to online dissection. The same source also says that there are no requirements to dissect animals so schools can choose to simply not participate in dissection.

The next reason why schools should stop teaching dissection is because it teaches students that animals lives have little importance. It also teaches them that testing on and abusing animals is ok to do. Neither of which are ok or ethical. Traditional dissection implies that cutting open animals is “fun”, which is exploiting them. (2) It also deters some students from pursuing a science career.

The final reason I am going to talk about is that dissection is bad for the environment. One source states  “The collection of frogs to be used as dissection specimens has depleted many local populations, leading some areas to outlaw their commercial harvesting. Chemicals used to preserve biological specimens also risk ending up in our nation’s ground and waterways following their disposal.” This shows that dissection very negatively affects the environment. Also when animals are raised just to be killed for dissection it uses a lot of resources that could be used in other, better ways.

In conclusion there is no reason to continue using dissection in school. It is just simply cruel and unnecessary. Do what you can do to stop dissection, you’ll be saving lives, the environment, money, and helping students appreciate animal life rather than exploiting it. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope this helped you change your view on animal dissection.

Sources

1. https://headlines.peta.org/teachkind-dissection-feature/  – PETA
2. https://navs.org/key-issues/waste-and-cruelty-of-dissection/ – NAVS
3. https://navs.org/five-reasons-to-end-animal-testing/ – NAVS

 Online Dissection Resources

General

https://www.peta.org/teachkind/get-inspired/top-11-non-animal-dissection-tools-for-your-classroom/ – Has all kinds of links to websites that have online dissections for almost every animal.

https://www.biologycorner.com/ – Great website with lots of online resources for dissection and animal parts.

https://howtohomeschoolforfree.com/virtual-dissection-labs-frog-homeschoolers/ – Another site with great links to websites and resources for lots of online animal dissection.

Sheep Brain 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_vxxKELkUY – Sheep brain dissection, starts at about 6 minutes and 10 seconds through the video.

https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Human_Biology/Human_Anatomy_Lab/11%3A_The_Central_Nervous_System_(Brain)/11.07%3A_Sheep_Brain_Dissection#:~:text=The%20sheep%20brain%20is%20enclosed,you%20remove%20the%20dura%20mater. – Good site on showing how you would dissect the brain of a sheep and lots of pictures along with facts, information, and parts of the sheep brain.

Rat

https://bio.libretexts.org/Learning_Objects/Worksheets/Book%3A_The_Biology_Corner_(Worksheets)/Anatomy_Worksheets/Investigation%3A_Rat_Dissection – Website steps on how you would dissect a rat, inside body parts, serval diagrams

https://kec.rialto.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA50000591/Centricity/Domain/1187/Science/Bio%20Notes/RatDissectionppt.ppt – Website with pictures and information about rats/rat dissection.

Can find most other animals in the general category.