October 19, 2007

According to the HSUS, over six million cats and other small animals are euthanized annually in the U.S. Roughly the same number are dissected each year in high school classrooms.

Many euthanized animals end up on America's dissection tables. But we wanted to know – does dissection help to lessen the impact of euthanasia?

A study by the Student's Animal Guardian Alliance (SAGA) suggests it does not. That's because it found that 86 percent of American students want the option to use alternative methods of learning anatomy.

The study, which is part of an HSUS and Animal Welfare Trust collaborative, showed that 36 percent of teens aged 11-18 have ethical issues with studying dead animals.

Dissection in th U.S. is a multi-million dollar business. According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) website, the animals used can come from slaughter houses, shelters, animal dealers and thieves.

The SAGA study found that 52 percent of students claim they'd prefer an alternative to using animals.

Those alternatives, the report says, could be better, because they're more cost effective and don't require loss of life. For example, there's software manufacturer Cyber Ed®'s “Dissection Series.”

With the loss of so many unwanted animals, dissection might be the best way to give some meaning to their deaths. Do you agree? Tell us what you think – post comments below this story. Submit video responses on the zootooTV tab. You can email us at news@zootoo.com or call us at 877-777-4204.