# Have to dissect a rat tomorrow......



## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

I have to dissect rats in school tomorrow and it's making me all depressed and mopey. I just feel too bad for the little guys. Plus, one rat in each class is always pregnant, and that's even sadder. =[

I dunno what I'm gonna do when the time comes. Try to get out of it I guess, but I don't think my teacher's gonna let me.


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## LittleShelby (Jan 4, 2010)

Try explaining it to your teacher. You have pet rats and it disturbs you to be dissecting something that you hold close and dear. Would they ask you to dissect a dog or cat with out giving the students an option? Maybe even do a little research on rat anatomy and surprise the teacher with your knowledge. Draw diagrams. 

It's worth a try.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

In most places they can't force you to do it, I had to dissect a pig fetus a few years ago in biology and got sick and left but he didn't make us stay in the first place. Just tell your teacher how you feel and don't do it.


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## hansloas (May 15, 2010)

Normally, teachers give students an easy time if they have pets of the same species. Explain that you really don't want to have to go through with this. 
Offer to write a paper on the subject or something like that.
Good luck, though <3


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## slsers (Apr 2, 2010)

I'm pretty sure that usually if you have a problem with dissecting then the teacher has to allow you to do a different assignment instead.


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## noMoreFaith (Apr 28, 2010)

why is this still allowed in schools??


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

I guess I'll have to give it a try and talk to her about it. It makes it even harder that one of my rats died only about 3 months ago. She showed us what the bodies looked like yesterday and I got all choked up. They're shaved but still look exactly like rats.

She also told us some of the stuff we have to do, like break their jaw and cut out their tongue. :'(

Thanks for all the replies and support guys, I'll offer to do any other alternative assignment and see what my teacher says. Wish me luck!


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## Simisama (May 11, 2010)

I hope you'll be able to get away from doing that. 
I have my fingers crossed!

EDIT: typo


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## LittleShelby (Jan 4, 2010)

Good luck!
Let us know how it goes. We're all here if it doesn't go so well and you need to talk about it.


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

Well, here's how the first dissection day went...

We were all in groups of three. One person was the cutter and one person answered questions from a worksheet she gave us. The third person just alternated with the cutter or helped with questions. When my teacher came around to ask us who the cutter was I told her that I have pet rats and can't cut anything or I would cry. So she made it very clear to my group that I didn't have to do any cutting. I wasn't aloud to sit outside, but at least I didn't have to be the one handling the body.

It wasn't quite as hard as I expected it to be, actually. I still got all misty and sniffley, but managed not to cry. I was wrong about the rats being shaved though, quite a few were black and white hooded. *sob*

And in a very morbid way, they were all kinda cute. They looked just like the rats you would find in a pet store.
Once again, thanks for all the support guys. Only one more day of dissection before it's over.


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## laughingrats (Apr 21, 2010)

I remember being in grade 6~ and our first dissection was a cow eyeball. I was so against it at the time that me and a few others got exempt from it. I'm surprised that you didn't, and you should of been able to have at least been able to leave. I do wish now that I would have done it for the experience, but if you don't feel comfortable with something, they shouldn't force you to do it. At least she made it clear to the group. Good luck on second day.


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

LauraNat said:


> I remember being in grade 6~ and our first dissection was a cow eyeball. I was so against it at the time that me and a few others got exempt from it. I'm surprised that you didn't, and you should of been able to have at least been able to leave. I do wish now that I would have done it for the experience, but if you don't feel comfortable with something, they shouldn't force you to do it. At least she made it clear to the group. Good luck on second day.


I feel a little the same way, in that it's great to really learn the organs and body (anatomy's always been interesting to me) but I don't think raising and breeding animals just for the purpose of dissection is right. I cried the first day my teacher showed us the bodies and this whole thing is even getting me rethinking the idea of being a vegetarian. It's been something I've been bouncing around for a while, but I LOVE the taste of meat and don't know how far I'd be able to get before I cracked. 
I have to say though, I believe full on that humans have the right to eat meat, I just think we should be respecting the life we take and treating the animals as best we can while they're still alive. Maybe I'll be a vegetarian just until I get out of high school and can find a place that sells free-range meat.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

I got out of having to do the fetal big with biology but once I took college anatomy last year we had to dissect cats, a fetal pig, cow eyes, a deer heart and a sheep brain. Its real hard to get out of it in college because they will give you a zero unfortunately and part of it was the final exam  but hopefully I dont have to do it again. I'm glad it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be though.


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## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

I had to dissect a rat in high school...I didn't have pet rats back then..so it didn't really bother me...however I almost wish I would have payed more attention because I wish I knew the anatomy of a rat moreso now for educational benefits. It would be hard for me to do it now--for obvious reasons...but I think knowing the anatomy would help if I had a medical issue come up...like a tumor or something I would know what general things werea round it..etc. We also had to dissect a cat...which was hard for me..because the cat looked just like my kitty I had at home at the time. I see the benefits of doing it...but I guess I dont like th idea that they are raised just for that purpose...


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

I think thats discusting. I would never dissect anything. Whats the point of breeding animals to be killed and ripped apart by kids for 'educational purposes' when you could just see the same thing in good diagrams, or even on a video. 

Its like the crazy scientists that repeat unnesecary experiements.


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

For some reason when I woke up today my face was all red and peeling and swollen (I think my body's turning against me). Long story short, I got to stay home from school so I missed the second and last day of dissection.

You guys seriously had to dissect a CAT? I didn't think that would even be allowed anywhere....there really should be more rules about this kind of stuff, most high schoolers don't even learn anything, they just think it's gross or make fun of it. It makes me angry. >:[


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## hansloas (May 15, 2010)

At my school, it was cats. People would run around with their heads on sticks and peep them into the door of class and go "MRRROOWWW"
and piss everyone off.

That made me so mad.
>:c


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

I had to dissect frogs in 7th grade and after we were done my teacher let us do whatever we wanted with the bodies so a lot of the boys decided to pry their eyes out or cut off the frog's legs, just to do it. Honestly, how can someone have such little respect for something that had to die so they could dissect it?

If I had been in your school, hansloas, I think I would've cracked and either cried or punch somebody.


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## LittleShelby (Jan 4, 2010)

In middle school, I cried when we were dissecting frogs, so I didn't have to do it. I would definitly cry if I had to dissect anything, especially rats or cats. And the whole cat head on a stick thing, I'd be in the counselors room all day. I'd be traumatized.


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## Nekopan (Mar 18, 2010)

I've dissected many things including the rat and fetal pig in high school and a cat for a university class. The cat was the worst because we did a total dissection for 4 months - the smell by the end was horrible. At the beginning of the class, we were told if we had any moral objections to dissecting a cat, we should change classes. But our professor also stressed that we must treat the cats with respect.

These animals were not bred simply for dissection. The cats were donated from the SPCA's euthanized animals. I honestly don't see what the big deal about dissection is, medical students have to dissect humans in order to gain an understanding of human anatomy.


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

Nekopan said:


> I've dissected many things including the rat and fetal pig in high school and a cat for a university class. The cat was the worst because we did a total dissection for 4 months - the smell by the end was horrible. At the beginning of the class, we were told if we had any moral objections to dissecting a cat, we should change classes. But our professor also stressed that we must treat the cats with respect.
> 
> These animals were not bred simply for dissection. The cats were donated from the SPCA's euthanized animals. I honestly don't see what the big deal about dissection is, medical students have to dissect humans in order to gain an understanding of human anatomy.


I don't really have a huge problem if the animals were donated from the SPCA, like you said, but the difference between dissecting animals and dissecting a human is that the human had the choice of donating their body. The animals had absolutely no say in the matter.


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## flox (Apr 12, 2010)

The human also has certain beliefs about what happens to them after they die. They have family reactions to consider, religion, and moral judgements - in short, they have the capacity to MAKE a choice. I know the subject of what animals know and feel is a very touchy one, so I'm sorry, but I really don't think "The animal wouldn't have chosen to donate its body" is a reasonable argument.

I'm also pretty horrified by people claiming dissection is cruel and/or unnecessary, but this is all I say because it IS a sensitive subject and from the responses already, one which makes people emotional and could cause arguments...

At school level, nobody is forced to participate. They were asked to sit in and not take an active roll, and I think that's brilliant - if someone had freaked out, they would have been allowed to leave (think about it, can you imagine the trouble the school would get in if they FORCED someone to stay?). But this way gave them the option of still experiencing it without getting too involved, or just assuming the only other option was to skip it alltogether. It sounds like it was handled very well.

At higher levels where the student made a choice to study a course where dissection is a required part, then it's right they shouldn't be graded if they don't complete that part of their course.

As to whether it's a waste of time or not, I certainly wouldn't want an operation carried out on one of my pets by a vet who had been trained with good diagrams and videos. Nor, for that matter, a surgeon operating on me. No matter how much technology advances (virtual operations?!), I still don't want someone standing over me with a scalpel who hasn't poked around inside a few bodies and found out how things lie in the real world


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

flox said:


> The human also has certain beliefs about what happens to them after they die. They have family reactions to consider, religion, and moral judgements - in short, they have the capacity to MAKE a choice. I know the subject of what animals know and feel is a very touchy one, so I'm sorry, but I really don't think "The animal wouldn't have chosen to donate its body" is a reasonable argument.
> 
> I'm also pretty horrified by people claiming dissection is cruel and/or unnecessary, but this is all I say because it IS a sensitive subject and from the responses already, one which makes people emotional and could cause arguments...
> 
> ...


I do totally see what you're saying, but to me it makes more sense to have people in college who are studying to be a vet or doctor to dissect things, not kids in high school, where dissection may not help them in their future.

Not trying to start a fight at all, I see where you're coming from. I know the animals don't really have the capacity to make decisions like that but it still makes me sad to see them treated often so disrespectful by students and kids. I guess if dissection was more...regulated it would make me feel better about the whole thing. I don't see why kids in high school need to dissect things at all.


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## flox (Apr 12, 2010)

Well yeah, kids are horrible  I think it's kinda important to at least introduce it in school - if you were thinking of doing biology or something at college, it's useful to find out if it's something you can deal with before signing up! Sorta lets you know what to expect. Not sure there's much you can do to stop some kids being asshats though!


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## Capistrono (Apr 12, 2010)

flox said:


> Well yeah, kids are horrible  I think it's kinda important to at least introduce it in school - if you were thinking of doing biology or something at college, it's useful to find out if it's something you can deal with before signing up! Sorta lets you know what to expect. Not sure there's much you can do to stop some kids being asshats though!


Oh to dream! XD


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