American Students Do Not Want to Dissect Animals

Jahnava Nitai Das · October 28, 2002

Source: New York Times

NEW YORK, U.S.A., October 1, 2002: When 16-year-old Jennifer Watson of Baltimore was removed from her high school honors anatomy class because she refused to dissect a cat, the Humane Society stepped in and requested that dissection alternatives be offered at Kenwood High School. School officials relented when 20 protesters picketed outside Jennifer's high school. She was allowed back in her class and could perform computer simulated dissections. Jennifer said, "I've loved animals my whole life. I was standing up for what I believe in." Around the nation, increasing numbers of students are choosing to learn anatomy from computer simulations. The article says, "According to the Humane Society of the United States, eight states have approved opt-out policies - California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. However, the National Association of Biology Teachers says, 'No alternatives can substitute the actual experience of dissection.' Wendell Mohling, a former biology teacher and associate executor of the National Science Teachers Association says, 'There were few suitable alternatives when I taught, but now there are some extremely sophisticated virtual technologies.' Lesley King, the Humane Society's director for education and animal welfare says, 'The Humane Society accepts the need for dissections in veterinary education, but urges schools to use only animals that have been euthanized because of illness or old age.' "