Do you think it is appropriate for teachers to be dissecting animals in biology class at school?

Amber - posted on 01/31/2013

I have decided I want to give it a try, but I don't know if my dad likes the sound of it, should I ask my mom instead?.....If you have any vegetarian 'begginers' tips for me, please post on my vegetarian question...

Stepsinstilettos - posted on 01/30/2013

Ha ha, if you do decide to give it a try, I run a blog with yummy veggie recipes to try! http://stepsinstilettos.com

Amber - posted on 01/30/2013

And Jamie Erfle, ....I wanted to be a vegetarian before, but I want to be one even more now!! lol x

Amber - posted on 01/30/2013

Aha, thankyou. I didn't say anything about it, I kinda wanted to stand a bit further back, But i'm not as imature as that, I just got on with it.

....Just wanted to know what other people thought x

Denikka - posted on 01/29/2013

We didn't do dissections until high school (grade 8), but we started off with a sheep's eyeball, then grade 9 we did a frog. Grade 10 was when you would get to choose the type of science you went into (biology, chemistry, earth science, etc) and they did a rat. Along the way (grade 10, 11, 12 biology) there was also earthworm, and pig fetus dissections, possibly others.
I have always been against this. SO against this.

I totally understand that certain sciences require dissections. College and university level science courses, biology, medical courses, etc. But the amount of animals that are slaughtered each semester just so a highschooler can sit there and poke at them is just disgusting. And there really is no purpose to it. I firmly believe *dissecting* a plastic model or doing a computerized dissection would have the same educational benefits, if not more. Just to remove the *gross out factor*. Lets face it. Teenagers are hardly mature. I remember the 2 dissections I had to take part in (eye ball and frog). The kids didn't LEARN anything. They were too busy *eeewww*ing and making the bit and pieces jiggle.

It's pointless slaughter.

I'm not vegetarian. In fact I like meat. I have no problem when animals are killed humanely and put to good use. However, the animals who are used in school dissections (highschool, college or university), specifically any animal rated *lower* than a cat or dog (most specifically the rats, which I know the most about in this case) are NOT humanely euthanize, and are often mistreated during their lives. Many are from breeding mills (think puppy mills for rodents. Same place most pet stores get their stock from) where they have gotten too old to sell (aka aren't cute fuzzy babies anymore) or are no longer productive breeders or are not deemed *pretty* enough to sell (usually white with red eyes, also know as PEWs in the pet rat world)

I truly and honestly wish this stupid practice would stop.

Stepsinstilettos - posted on 01/29/2013

Absolutely not! This is exactly what turned me vegetarian! I remember thinking at the time, how unnecessary and cruel this activity was. Now it really bothers me because I have never need nor used this "information" and could have easily gotten it from a picture or diagram, the way we learn about the human body.