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FAQs
How many animals are dissected every year?
A reasonable estimate is that about six million vertebrate animals are dissected yearly in U.S. high schools alone, with an additional, unknown number used in colleges and middle and elementary schools. The number of invertebrate animals dissected is probably comparable to that of vertebrates.

What species are used?
The most commonly dissected vertebrates are frogs, fetal pigs, and cats. Others include dogfish sharks, perch, rats, pigeons, salamanders, rabbits, mice, turtles, snakes, mink, foxes, and bats. Invertebrates include crayfish, grasshoppers, earthworms, clams, sea stars, squid, sea urchins, and cockroaches.

Where do the animals used in dissection come from?
Most animal species used in dissection are predominantly taken from the wild. These include frogs, spiny dogfish (sharks), mudpuppies and other salamanders, birds, snakes, turtles, fish, and most invertebrates. Other animals used in dissection are fetal pigs, and mink, which are by-products of the cruel meat and fur industries. Cats used for dissection are purchased from 'Class B' dealers who procure cats from a variety of legal and illegal sources, such as animal shelters, 'free to good home' ads, and pet theft. These animals used in dissection are sold to biological supply companies, who then sell them to schools and colleges/universities.

What is wrong with using fetal pigs? Aren't they by-products of the meat industry?
Many students object to using fetal pigs because of their concern for the treatment of animals raised for human consumption. Almost all of the nearly 100 million pigs slaughtered annually for human consumption in the U. S. are raised in crowded, confined conditions, where they are deprived of space, fresh air, and fresh forage for the duration of their shortened lives. Many also have their tails cut off and their teeth excised as piglets. The fetuses that end up in the dissection tray are taken from pregnant sows at the slaughterhouse.

Shouldn't students who plan to pursue a higher education in science or medicine learn to dissect before attending college?
The American Medical Association does not recommend that students need dissection as part of their curriculum for medical school education. Additionally, many of the most prestigious medical schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford no longer use live animals to teach future doctors. Instead, they use modern technology and human cadavers, which are the most applicable way to learn human anatomy.

Many veterinary schools such as Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and Western Health Sciences University College of Veterinary Medicine have found ways to incorporate compassionate and respectful ways to obtain cadavers for anatomy lessons and teach surgical skills without terminating the animals' lives. They have developed Educational Memorial Programs (EMPs) www.educationalmemorial.org in their hospitals in which clients can donate their deceased companion animal from whom students will learn.

Students can develop an understanding of anatomy, their manual and cognitive skills, and the necessary confidence for a successful surgery by using models. When their skills improve, they can then observe and assist a licensed veterinary surgeon in the operating room until they are ready to act as the primary surgeon under supervision. This gives the real-life experience of an actual veterinary surgical procedure. Whereas, in terminal surgeries on healthy animals, in which students know that the animal will be euthanized before recovering from the surgery, students forgo wearing gloves and taking other necessary precautions required for a sterile, successful, and real-life surgery. They also lean nothing about the importance of successful recovery and healing.

What's wrong with using animals who have been killed for other reasons?
Seeing and cutting into dead animals who were once someone's companion can be very traumatic or otherwise difficult for students, especially if they find that the animal is pregnant. Use of animals from slaughterhouses, fur farms, or shelters and pounds neglect the greater problems of animal cruelty, why these animal lives have been wasted, and the animal overpopulation crisis. It instills a utilitarian view of animals, disregarding the study of life. The purchase of cadavers for dissection creates another demand for these cruel industries.

Does my child have the legal right to object to dissection?
Students from K-12 have the legal right to refuse to dissect a once-living animal. Today student choice laws exist in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Louisiana, Maine and Maryland offer informal policies, while similar legislation is pending in Massachusetts and Michigan. Individual students have inspired the development of these students' rights laws through their own actions. Students need to realize that they play a significant role in their education. And their choices can make a significant difference for animals.

These laws typically require the school to notify students and/or their parents at the beginning of the course. They allow the student to choose a humane alternative and the laws require that students who choose to opt out of dissection not be penalized for doing so.

If your and your child live in a state that doesn't have a legal policy intact your child can still object to dissection. In many cases students living in states that don't have protective policies have been successful in encouraging their teachers to allow them to use alternatives to dissection. Sometimes students have even succeeded in banning dissection at their schools because of their efforts combined with the guidance of their parents/and or guardians.

Do any other countries have laws regarding dissection?
Animal dissection was banned from schools in Argentina in 1987 and in Slovakia in 1994. In 1993, a law took effect in Italy that recognizes the right of conscientious objectors to refuse to participate in animal's experimentation. In 1997, the Indian government announced that animal dissection would be made optional for school students in the country, and the decision was recently implemented. Additionally, in 2001 the Central Board of Secondary Education in India banned the dissection of mice, rats, and frogs from the curriculum. In December 1999, the Israeli Minister of Education, Yossi Sarid, announced an immediate ban on dissection and live-animal experimentation in the country's schools.