is it animal cruelty? Options

[CrimsonArchangel]

No, this is not about fur, or wool or anything like that.

Its about science. Many of you have had to dissect several creatures for bio class, most likely. Today I had to do the frog ringer lab, where a frog has its brain removed (is it really dead?) and then we have to dissect it and add chemicals to its heart to see what happens, then add a third one that will kill it.

Now I ask. Despite the fact that many of those animals are bred for that purpose, "to further science", should we use animals as dissection subjects? Or should we just make plastic models and the such?

Is it animal cruelty to breed animals for the purpose of being cut up by students just to learn?

[sadolakced acid]

i agree plastic and silicone models can be good teaching tools... better than real life in some cases ( how many live samples of breast cancer can students use to practice feeling for lumps? compared to silicone models?)

however, they can only go so far:

plastic models cannot mimic the actual dissection, that is the cutting, etc. that is nessisary for doctors to know.

Plastic models will also all be the same; whereas two cats rarely have organs that all look alike.

plastic models would be very, very expensive to cover an animal in depth. or a human... and if it were to try to mimic the disection aspect, it'd be one use...


If someone were pursuing a career in science, at one point they would HAVE to disect something, or quit thier job... so why can't they just quit the disection courses when they start, instead of relying upon plastic models (which would not really be sufficent)?

plastic models are like trying to create a universal computer that every other type looks like, and functions like. All computers do the same things (usually), but they can vary dramatically in thier insides and appearance. same with animals, but a LOT more...