There are about 11 states in the US that give high school and college students the choice to opt out of dissection of any animal. Georgia does not have any law giving students this choice. I do not agree with dissection, as it is cruel. Animals are usually snatched from the wild or they are bred for the purpose of science. Fetal pigs, for example, are taken from their mothers during slaughter for human consumption.
If I choose to not dissect, I should not fail the class or get my grade in the class lowered. A student should have the right to choose an alternative to cutting an animal open. I agree that dissection can teach students a great deal of information about the anatomy of an organism but, I believe there are other ways to learn about human and animal anatomy besides the dissection of a real animal. Such as, having the teacher show you, or watching a video. There are many different ways to learn about the structure and composition or organisms.
Please give all students in Georgia the choice to opt out of dissection without failing the class or the lowering of a grade and give them an alternative to dissection. Dissection is important to study the anatomy of living things, but not all students should be required to do it.
I believe if someone has strong beliefs to not dissect a real animal that was once living, they should have the choice to be excused from dissection and have the chance to learn about the animal with a different activity such as a virtual dissection online, watching the teacher dissect it, dissecting a prosthetic animal, etc. There are many alternatives to dissection.
There are about 11 states in the US that give high school and college students the choice to opt out of dissection of any animal. Georgia does not have any law giving students this choice. I do not agree with dissection, as it is cruel. Animals are bred for dissection or snatched from the wild. Animals are treated very cruel in the name of science. Please give us animal lovers the chance to follow our beliefs and the choice to not dissect.
Thank you so much for your time,
Leigha Henson
Griffin, GA
