A: Fetal pig dissection is the act of cutting open a pig fetus in order to study the pig's anatomy.
A: Fetal pigs are a "waste product" or "by-product" of the meat packing industry, where animals are slaughtered and prepared for human consumption. Virginia Tech’s fetal pigs come from Nebraska Scientific.
A: Here are three different perspectives:
Vegans/Vegetarians: For those students who follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, requiring their participation in dissection would be very similar to asking them to eat a hamburger or sausage patty. Fetal pigs come from sows who are slaughtered for their meat. Slaughterhouses receive income every time someone buys meat or purchases a fetal pig to dissect. Through the law of supply and demand, the continuing purchase of animal products will encourage the slaughterhouses to continue to supply their product. While not purchasing the fetal pigs will certainly not put the slaughterhouses out of business, vegetarians and vegans find it deeply offensive to be required to support this industry in any way.
Religious: Some students may interpret their religions to forbid certain aspects of dissection that prevent them from participating. I know very little about this aspect and would greatly appreciate any input.
Psychological: Some students cannot dissect dead animals without having an adverse psychological or emotional reaction.
A: We are and we are not. We are in the sense that we are asking for a different method of learning about the anatomy of fetal pigs. We are not in the sense that we are asking that our strongly held beliefs be respected, a common tenet in much of American society. We are not seeking an easy way out, and expect the alternative to be just as challenging as the dissection. And remember that Dr. Cowles has already stated verbally that he would grant alternatives to those with sincere objections.
A: Numerous alternatives exist, including books, pictures, slides, overheads, lectures, models, computer programs, videos, and some other more unconventional methods. Click here to see just a partial list of what alternatives are available.
A: Perhaps the best evidence that alternatives are just as good as dissection is the case of Dylan Eastman. Dylan is a student here and a member of NRV-CARE. He has performed an alternative (after going through a good deal of trouble finding out the true policy), and received an above perfect score on the dissection final exam.
"Teachers often claim that knowledge of anatomy and biological processes can only be taught through dissection. However, numerous studies have shown that students who perform dissections score no better on anatomy tests than students who do not dissect. Students using traditional "low-tech" methods such as classroom discussions, textbook study, and charts and graphs, but who do not dissect, score equally well on anatomy tests as dissecting students. Students using "high-tech" methods such as interactive computer demonstrations, scored higher compared to those who performed dissections!" A listing of these studies is available on this site. -American Anti-Vivisection Society
A: "There also is the issue of the preservatives which are used in preparing the dead animals' bodies. Formalin, made from formaldehyde, is the most common one used. This material is highly toxic and is cancer producing. It is incomprehensible to subject children to these types of toxic materials for something which is not necessary. Having done research for 22 years, using many different types of tissue fixatives, I am not aware of any which are not toxic. Whereas some companies rinse the bodies and place them in a less toxic material for delivery, some formaldehyde still is there and leaks into the less toxic solutions." -Nedim C. Buyukmihci, V.M.D., Professor of Ophthalmology, University of California, School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, Davis, CA 95616-8745; President, Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, P.O. Box 208, Davis, California 95617-0208
A: "A principal goal of life science education is to teach respect for life. Dissection is an intrinsically violent exercise; it involves killing, preserving, cutting apart, then discarding an animal. However well-intentioned an instructor's desire to teach respect for animals, the typical dissection exercise will tend to undermine it by devaluing the lives of other creatures to the level of expendable objects. I have personally spoken with hundreds of bright, compassionate students who find dissection ethically repugnant; their response is sometimes to turn away from careers in such fields as human medicine, veterinary medicine, or nursing, where compassion is most needed. On the other hand, less sensitive students may be hardened by the exercise, the consequences of which are open to speculation."-Jonathan Balcombe, PhD, the Associate Director for Education, Animal Research Issues with the Humane Society of the United States.