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Dissect with Compassion: Use Alternative Instructional Aids

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines biology as "a branch of knowledge that deals with living organisms and vital processes." Yet, biology courses often require students to perform animal dissections. Instead of studying life, students study death by completing assignments resulting in the destruction of millions of animals every year. Dissecting animals is quite contradictory to the biology discipline and should be banned in schools.

Before animals arrive in classrooms, the conditions in which they are found (stolen) or bred and killed are unethical. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine reported in Alternatives to Dissection that animals including frogs, cats, and turtles are supplied by breeding facilities, slaughterhouses, and animal dealers. Workers at biological supply companies are responsible for killing the animals. Frogs are submerged in a solution of water and alcohol, sometimes taking up to 20 minutes to die. Metal hooks are used to prod cats into gas chambers. Upon arrival at the biological supply company, turtles are often near death, hemorrhaging, paralyzed, or unable to properly breathe. Animals are being treated like objects rather than living, breathing, feeling beings.

According to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), animal dissections executed in biology courses serve several purposes. Students make observations and comparisons. They learn to recognize similarities and differences amongst life forms. Lastly, the process of dissecting animals fosters an appreciation for life's intricacies. However, alternative instructional aids have proven to be more effective in helping students acquire science skills and learn about the anatomy of living creatures than animal dissections.

The Humane Society of the United States created a list of studies that compared the effectiveness of animal dissections versus alternative techniques. Of the thirty-five studies reviewed, only two reports found that students who followed traditional dissection methods scored higher when assessed. Eighteen studies indicated that both methods produced similar academic achievements. Fifteen studies found that students performed better using alternative aids. Besides overall academic success using alternative aids, these resources are easily accessible for schools and individuals.

Resources available are not only compassionate and successful teaching tools, but they are also cost

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