Cutting Up Animals Is Cruel and Archaic, Group Says
For Immediate Release:
February 28, 2011
Contact:
Kristin Richards 757-622-7382
Providence, R.I. — Today, PETA sent a letter to Thomas M. Brady, superintendent of the Providence Public School District, with an offer that the group hopes he won't refuse: Allow PETA to place its ad promoting alternatives to dissection on students' lockers, and in return, PETA will pay the district hard cash to help counter looming budget cuts. The ad features an image of a rat and reads, "Stop School Violence. Do Your Homework—Choose Not to Dissect." According to Rhode Island law, students can refuse to dissect animals and must be given a humane alternative. In lieu of cash, PETA is also offering to provide the school district with free Digital Frog virtual-dissection software.
"Encouraging students to cut up animals who often suffer a terrifying and painful death teaches them that the lives of others don't matter," says executive vice president of PETA—and mother—Tracy Reiman. "Our offer is a win-win solution: The school district would receive needed funding, and students would receive invaluable lessons in compassion, student rights, and good science."
Each year in the U.S., an estimated 10 million animals are killed for dissection. Many come from biological supply houses, which breed some animals and obtain others from their homes in the wild. These companies also purchase stray, lost, and abandoned dogs and cats from animal shelters or from "bunchers"—dealers who illicitly obtain animals from backyards and streets in the U.S. and Mexico.
Non-animal teaching methods such as the use of interactive computer programs have been shown to teach biology as well as, and in many cases better than, animal-based methods. They also save time and money. The National Science Teachers Association's official position statement endorses the use of modern non-animal methods as replacements for animal dissection and encourages teachers to be responsive to students' ethical concerns.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
