PETA Donation Will Reduce Number of Animals Dissected at Oneonta School

State-of-the-Art Computer Software Will Help Teachers Implement Progressive New Choice Policy

For Immediate Release:
February 23, 2012

Contact:
Adam Miller 202-483-7382

Oneonta, N.Y. -- When students at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Oneonta start learning about animal anatomy, none of them will be required to cut into an animal or risk taking a failing grade for objecting to do so. That's because the private school has voluntarily adopted a progressive dissection-choice policy—which public schools in the state are already required to offer—that will allow compassionate students who object to animal dissection to use modern computer software instead. And PETA will help. Through its national educational grants program, the group will donate money to the school so that it can purchase the popular Virtual Frog Dissection Educational App from Emantras, which features three-dimensional organ views, anatomical comparisons of human and frog organs, and dissection tools, including pins, markers, scissors, scalpels, and forceps. Interactive software has been shown to teach anatomy better than animal dissection.

"PETA is delighted to give Lighthouse Christian Academy teachers the tools they need to help compassionate and merciful students learn biology using humane, modern methods instead of by cutting up dead animals," says PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "Millions of frogs, pigs, cats, and other animals are still killed for dissection every year even though the practice upsets many students and it is known that non-animal methods for teaching biology are educationally superior."

The millions of animals who are used in school dissections come from biological supply houses, which breed some animals and obtain others from animal shelters or the wild. Comparative studies have repeatedly shown that non-animal teaching methods, such as interactive computer programs, are more effective at teaching biology than crude animal-based methods. These programs also save time and money and increase student confidence and satisfaction. The National Science Teachers Association endorses the use of modern non-animal methods as replacements for animal dissection.

For more information, please visit PETA.org/Dissection. To learn more about the Virtual Frog Dissection Educational App and Emantras, please visit PunFlay.com.