Animal dissection is a huge part of why our animals are losing their population as animals are being killed for classroom use. Think about each time you provide an animal to a group of students, do you know that they are being killed and taken away from their family to become an experiment. This kind of act is clearly an act of animal cruelty as animals are being taken away from their homes and family to become an experiment. Earlier this week I conducted a survey to 16 students at Pickering High School about this topic. Here are some statistics on Pickering High School students' beliefs and opinions on animal dissections. With 12/16 students who have conducted an animal dissection, they believe that animal dissections are not an essential part of their learning in a biology class. With the survey I conducted I realized that a few students also don’t have a choice when it comes to dissecting an animal for an assignment. 2 students stated that they were never allowed to have an alternate assignment, while 4 students stated that it was very rare when it comes to alternate assignments. It has also come to my attention about the different experiences students have with animal dissection after they have completed the dissection. 8 students have explained that they enjoyed animal dissections, while 5 students stated that they felt uncomfortable. As there were many mixed opinions on this topic, I respectfully support your opinions on this topic. My goal is to stop animal dissections in our classrooms, but since I realized this is a curriculum expectation I decided to ask the students of Pickering High school how we can still learn the anatomy of an animal without having to rip open a dead animal. These students have requested many alternatives you can imply in your classroom ! An example could be using a gizmo as a stimulation to explain how an animal can be dissected. Showing a diagram of a dissected animal can also help students understand how animals are dissected through visual imagery. The last example can be showing a video to demonstrate how you can dissect an animal. If you are a staff member who supports animal dissecting, maybe providing an alternative assignment could be great for students who don’t feel comfortable harming an animal. If you would like hands on animal dissections to be stopped at Pickering High School please sign this petition to show your support !