Millions of frogs, turtles, cats, mice, rats, fish, and other animals are used in school dissection exercises every year. A reasonable estimate is that annually six million vertebrate animals, and roughly the same number of invertebrates, are dissected in U.S. high schools. Unknown numbers are also used in colleges, middle schools, and elementary schools. Many of the animals used for dissection are obtained from the wild. Others, such as fetal pigs, are byproducts of the meat industry. Cats and dogs euthanized at animal shelters are also used in dissections.

Many students have moral or ethical objections to dissection but believe they must participate in order to pass the class or maintain their grade point average. A vast majority of students (90% in one poll) feel they should be given a choice or alternative when it comes to dissection. Increasingly, states are mandating that students get these choices.

Currently, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, New Jersey, and Vermont have laws that give students the right to choose an alternative to dissection. The map to the right shows the status of dissection legislation across the country. (Click on the map to enlarge it.) For the most up-to-date information, click here.

Even if your state doesn't have choice-in-dissection laws, that doesn't necessarily mean that you will have to dissect. If you find yourself in a class that calls for dissection, take action.

1. Don’t procrastinate. Find out as early as possible if a class will require dissection or other objectionable animal use. Ask your teacher at the beginning of the semester if any dissections are planned. The sooner you speak up, the more likely you are to succeed in obtaining an alternative.

2. Strength in numbers. Talk with other students. See if anyone else in your class or grade feels the way you do about dissection. Find out who is willing to join you in requesting alternatives, then get together as a group to form a game plan for gathering information and meeting with your teacher.

3. Know your stuff. Make a list of the reasons you are against dissection and get all the facts about dissection and its alternatives. Videos, 3-D models, charts, CD-ROMs, and other materials are available on loan, free of charge, from several organizations. Studies have proven that students who use these alternatives learn the material as well as or better than students who perform actual dissections, and alternatives are also less expensive. Because an animal can be dissected only once, new specimens must be reordered year after year, while models, videos, and CDs can be used again and again.

The following programs lend dissection alternative materials to students and teachers, and all have fact-filled websites to help you get the lowdown on dissection.

● The Humane Society of the United States’ Humane Education Loan Program Offers middle schools, high schools, and universities alternatives to class-room animal dissection and live animal experimentation, and encourages the adoption of humane alternatives in the classroom.

● The National Anti-Vivisection Society’s Dissection Alternative Loan Program Provides students and educators with effective state-of-the-art alternative models and computer programs to substitute for the use of once-live animals in classroom dissection exercises.

● The Ethical Science and Education Coalition’s Loan Library Contains more than 400 books, 200 videos, and dozens of models of computer programsavailable for use.

● Animalearn’s Science Bank Offers innovative software and educational products to educators and students interested in trying alternative methods to dissection.

4. Meet with your teacher. Set up a time to discuss your concerns with your teacher. Be polite, positive, and respectful. Be sure to explain why you prefer not to dissect, and present at least one alternative. Before your meeting, borrow material from one of the programs listed above so that you can demonstrate to your teacher just how effective the alternatives are. If your teacher won’t budge, seek the support of parents and other students. See if you can make your case to the principal or school board.

5. Make it the rule, not the exception. Make it easier for fellow and future students to avoid dissection by working with your school or district to institute a student choice policy. It isn't as hard as you think—just ask Laurie Wolff! As a Nevada eighth-grader in 2002, she successfully petitioned her school board to draft a student choice amendment for the entire school district, which is the sixth largest in the nation with 244,000 students. Click here for her story and to read about other students who have had similar victories.

If you’re ready to get started, request the Dissection Campaign Packet. With sample student choice policies, scientific studies and references, humane science project ideas, plus brochures to help you understand the issues, you'll be on your way to a cruelty-free science class. And don't forget, we're here to help! Just email us at teens@humanesociety.org for assistance.

6. Tell us about it. Whether you are pushing for dissection alternatives or aiming to eliminate dissection altogether, be sure to let us know how you went about it and what your results were. We may publish your story in HumaneTeen! Email us at teens@humanesociety.org.