Dissection: What's the big deal?

While dissection in itself is not inhumane, there are some humane aspects worth considering. For instance, animals may be mistreated as they are procured and handled before being killed to become preserved specimens. In fact, non-animal techniques provide cost-effective methods with many benefits to both the student and teacher – besides the obvious benefits to the animals!

For centuries, animals have been used as models to aid in teaching about the human body. Since there were no alternatives at the time, students needed to cut open the animals to expose the internal organs. For the past several decades, however, it has been recognized that the outdated “look-cut-draw-label-memorize” approach does not encourage serious scientific enquiry. The advancement of new technology has now led to other, more advanced methods and to new discoveries about how the method of study influences students.

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