We recently dissected a rat in science class. We skinned it, then identified some of his muscles and after we identified some of his organs. It took us several school days including one day for skinning, one day for identifying muscles, one day for identifying organs and then two days for making a google site. The google site had to include pictures of all of the rat’s muscles, all of the rat’s organs and three common diseases for every organ (in humans), and finally it had to include some history.
I personally did not like the concept of dissecting an animal, and the first day was very difficult for many people to stomach seeing the rats. Some reasons against dissecting rats would be that it could be bad for the environment. Depending on how the teachers acquire the animals it could be inhumane. Another con is that it is just for the students, medical studies do not benefit from the animal dissections.
Some reasons for dissecting the animals would be that it does teach students about the organs and location of them. I did learn about the human body because it is similar to how the rat was. Another reason that some people are for dissecting animals is that it can encourage some students to pursue a career in science. The rat dissection also is a productive use for the dead animals.
Personally I see both sides for dissecting and against dissecting animals. I'm also glad that we dissected rats instead of other animals. I have heard some people talk about how when they were in school they dissected a cat and some people have also dissected frogs.
What do you think the best animal to dissect is?
Did the rat dissection (if you have done it) bother you or your stomach?
Source https://www.britannica.com/story/pro-and-con-animal-dissection
Replies
I agreed that there us no best animal but the rats do have a problem because of their smaller size making it easier to cut something unintentionally or harder to identify some organs or musscles. But some of these rats were breed just for the students to dissect, made just to be put down which I consider kind of inhumane.
I think that the rat is the best animal to disect, considering they are very identical to humans. When I did the rat disection the first day I did leave the classroom to get fresh air because I was feeling sick to the stomach. but the second day I started helping and I got used to it.
But for some people the rat was too difficult to dissect because of its size, meaning something a bit bigger would have been easier for some students. I think that for me personally the first day bothered my stomach a little but after the first day I was much better. Everyone in my group agreed that the second day was easier than the first.
all of the rat disections for harlan have been ethically produced if they werent sent to us they would be delivered to other schools they were put down just like a beloved family pet with a shot of sleepy juice.these rats are born and raised for one reason to continue the learning of organs musceles and causes and effects of substances. just like a clay pidgeon is made to be shot at, these rats were bred to be studied.
But people could argue that it is inhumane to bread just to kill so was it ethically produced if it was killed without a good reason. When pets are put down it is to stop suffering, but it is not the same for the rats even if they were bread just for this they are still being killed without good reason.
I don't think there is a best animal to disect. I think thaxt choosing a rat is a good option though. There are alot of them and it's not like they are gonna go extinct. The rat disecction was disturbing but I think it's good to do stuff hands on. Im sure they can make like fake rats that you can skin and stuff with like plastic organs so we can still find them and identify them,
I agree that there is not a best animal to dissect but depending on the person some people could consider some better than others. I agree that it was good to do something hands on but I also like the point that we could use fake rats. If we did fake rats though people could argue that it wouldn't feel the same, and the same arguement can be made about if we just used other options in place of doing a dissection.
While I understand why people don't like dissection, I think they are a good way to learn about how things work. It is not inhumane because the animal is already dead. Dissections are a very good way for anatomy students to learn, instead of looking at it in a textbook.
Lots of people use the fact that it is not inhumane because they were already dead but there was a reason for their death, and they might have just been put down just for us to cut them apart. Is that still considered humane? But also as they students we had nothing to do with how the rats got there so it's not really our problem and we can't really change anything about it.
I can understand how disecting an animal can be sad and sometimes very disgusting, but the animal is already dead and instead of just throwing it away it is sometimes good to study it. That's also why people (like me) are organ donors so if you die unexpectedly, your death can't just go waste and it can actually be a good thing to help people who desperately need your vital organs.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next