December 16, 2009
Dissection Campaign Packet
Materials to help students and teachers cut out dissection
The HSUS has created a Dissection Campaign Packet for students of high school age and younger. The aim of this project is to help you to inform teachers, students and other members of the public about the dissection issue, and about the need to replace the practice of killing and cutting up animals for education with effective, humane alternatives.
Some of the materials in this packet are listed below, with suggestions on ways to use them:
Problems with Dissection lists the humane, social, pedagogical and environmental problems with dissection.
Dissection: Want to Know a Simple Way to Say No Way? This pamphlet explains the dissection issue in a nutshell, and helps students get ideas for proceeding with a campaign to change things at his or her school.
To Harm Or Not To Harm This brochure helps college-level students obtain an education in accordance with his or her moral and ethical beliefs by presenting information on how to implement alternatives at the college or university level.
Student Choice in Biology Education is a guide on why and how to create a student choice policy at any school.
Dissection vs. Alternatives: A Cost Comparison compares the costs of dissection materials and three different dissection alternatives (the cat, fetal pig and bullfrog) over a three-year period.
Dissection vs. Alternatives: Comparative Studies is a list of scientific references that demonstrate that students learn the material as good as, if not better than, students who dissect animals.
Attitudes Toward Dissection is an annotated list of studies that show both teachers' and students' opinions on the use of animals in the classroom and the use of alternatives.
Campaign for Dissection Choice Flowchart maps out the steps a student should take when dissection is being taught and the student wants to perform an alternative assignment.
Existing Dissection Choice Laws is a listing of all states that have student choice laws or policies; links to legislative and policy language are provided.
The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives and Recommendations is a book written by Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D., that encompasses all of the issues and facts surrounding the use of animals at all levels of education. The book can be purchased or downloaded for free.
Dissection Alternatives: A List of Websites lists websites of organizations that have alternative loan programs or searchable alternatives databases, as well as websites that allow virtual dissections of a variety of species.
Create a Humane Biology Classroom This handout advises teachers on how to implement humane alternatives in their classrooms and summarizes the reasons for doing so.
Humane Science Projects gives teachers or students ideas for science fairs or other independent science projects that don't involve the harmful use of animals. Teachers find it a highly useful resource.
How to Write a Letter to the Editor or to a PTA provides helpful hints on getting your message to a greater number of people. Sample letters are provided.
Sarah Lawrence College Student Choice Policy is an example of a student choice policy at the college level for college students to use as a reference for writing a student choice policy at his or her college or university.
Student Choice in Your State: A Lobbying Guide is an excellent guide to help you pass a law in your state that will protect students who wish to use an alternative to dissection.
These materials will assist you whether you are working on your own or with others in mounting a campaign to either replace dissection with humane alternatives at your school, or enact policies granting students the right to choose humane alternatives to dissection. They will also help you to foster public awareness about the problems inherent in killing animals for education.
