Drowning, Cannibalization, and Other Reasons Not to Dissect
PETA and peta2, PETA’s youth division, have launched a brand-new anti-dissection video timed to coincide with “Cut Out Dissection” Month. The video, titled “7 Reasons to Cut Out Dissection,” points out that animals such as frogs and cats often suffer before they are cut up in classrooms and that, according to numerous studies, humane, non-animal teaching methods such as the use of computer software are actually cheaper, safer, and just as effective (indeed, often more effective) at teaching anatomy and physiology than dissection is. Ethics and science are both on the animals’ side!
Included in the video are photos taken at Illinois Central College (ICC) in which frogs and rats are shown being kept in cramped and filthy conditions inside a school closet before being cut open and killed in archaic experiments. Many frogs drowned after the sinks they were confined to became clogged and the animals couldn’t escape. The photos also show dying rats with most of their fur missing and dead rats who have been cannibalized by their cagemates. Please take a moment to drop ICC a line urging it to abolish all experiments on live animals, just as its neighbors Illinois State University and Oakton Community College have done in their physiology courses.
Seven doesn’t seem like nearly enough reasons not to dissect, does it? If you can think of some others that we missed, feel free to post them below. And don’t forget to share this video with all the students and teachers you know.
Written by Alisa Mullins
