I'm sure this has come up somewhere else, but this semester we have a
student who is seriously protesting animal dissection in our A&P
courses--it may become a legal issue at some point since she continues
to protest. She says that her ethics do not allow her to dissect
animals because "they did not have the chance to consent to having their
bodies used." Our full-time faculty have agreed that dissection is an
integral part of our courses, especially second semester, and that
computer simulations are not an adequate substitute for "hands-on" study
of specimens. A department policy statement was written and agreed upon
that while no student will be required to actually dissect or touch the
specimens, all students are responsible to passively observe, to
discuss, and to answer questions on lab practicals (pinned
organs/structures on specimens) or the student will lose those points in
the class. We have provided this student with a copy of the HAPS
position paper on animal use and this policy, and our attorney has
researched state law to find that we are on solid legal ground with our
policy. The student says that this is not acceptable to her. What have
other colleges and universities done in this situation? BTW, a human
cadaver is not available for us to dissect to substitute for the animal
specimens. Thanks, Kathy Warren
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