January 2016

To:  Texas State Board of Education

From:   Cassie Allen, Secondary School Parent

Subject:  Dissection in School Curriculum

This petition is to request the Texas School Board of Education and administration REMOVE using animal dissection as part of the Science or provide appropriate alternatives to the curriculum.

Every year, millions of animals are dissected in elementary and secondary classes. Each animal that is cut open and discarded represents not only a life lost but also a part of a trail of animal abuse and environmental havoc.

Dissection is academically unnecessary.

Classroom dissection desensitizes students to the sanctity of life. Research has shown that a significant number of students, at every educational level, are uncomfortable with the use of animals in dissection and experimentation. Studies also show that exposing young people to animal dissection as “science” can foster callousness toward animals and nature.

Students don’t need to cut up animals to understand basic anatomy and physiology. Those who plan to go into a medical field would do better to study humans in a controlled and supervised setting, examine human cadavers, or use any of the many non-animal learning methods available, such as those provided by computer models and sophisticated simulators. This type of simulation-based education would more accurately reflect what students will encounter when they get to medical school.

To date 17 states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia) and Washington, DC, have state laws or policies giving K-12 students the right to opt for an alternative instead of participating in animal dissection.

Texas currently has a policy that allows students to opt-out of any classroom activity, with consent of parents/guardians:

Texas, 1995 (Texas Education Code - Section 26.010. Exemption from Instruction)
Sec. 26.010. EXEMPTION FROM INSTRUCTION. (a) A parent is
entitled to remove the parent’s child temporarily from a class or
other school activity that conflicts with the parent’s religious or
moral beliefs if the parent presents or delivers to the teacher of
the parent’s child a written statement authorizing the removal of the
child from the class or other school activity. A parent is not
entitled to remove the parent’s child from a class or other school
activity to avoid a test or to prevent the child from taking a
subject for an entire semester.

I highlight the above phrase because if dissection is used as a test grade our students have no protection under the current law unless the school allows alternatives.

Nearly every study has concluded that non-animal learning methods, including virtual dissection software, are equivalent or, in many cases, superior to traditional animal dissection in their ability to provide students with an understanding of anatomy and complex biological processes.

The typical science lab at many schools now emphasizes computer simulations, interactive CD-ROMs, films, charts, and lifelike models rather than animal cadavers. Students and teachers can choose from a wide range of sophisticated alternatives to dissection.

Most non-animal tools and lessons last for many years and cost less than maintaining a constant supply of animals.

There is also the issue of how the animals are obtained. The gruesome facts are some that I am sure most are not aware of.

Dissection harms animals

While the exact number is unknown, dissection requires the killing of an estimated 6-12 million animals annually in the U.S. alone. Some students and educators do not have issues with dissection if they are using “ethically-sourced” animals, like cats euthanized from animal shelters or fetal pigs that are by-products of the food industry. However, it should be noted that frogs—the most commonly used animals for dissection exercises—are harvested and killed specifically for biological study. Fish and sharks are also captured from the wild by fishermen who sell their dead bodies to biological supply companies to make a profit.

Every single cat, frog, pig, rat, rabbit, or other animal that ends up on a dissection tray was once alive. And NONE of them wanted to die

At a minimum I would request the State Board of Education allow students to select an appropriate alternative project to dissection by modifying Texas Education Code - Section 26.010. Specifically when dissection is required/counted as a test grade with the ultimate desire to totally eliminate the practice from all elementary and secondary schools.

In my opinion it is emotionally detrimental to a student’s development and learning to not respect all living things. This is a biblical based philosophy and one we should be embracing as a society. When our children go off to college and decide a career choice, medical, veterinarian, etc. they can make that decision but it should be their decision and not one that is forced on them while still in elementary or secondary education.

Sources:

http://www.navs.org/education/dissection-in-the-classroom