California School District Bans Animal Dissection

After Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, CA students posed in photographs with dead cats and shared them on Facebook this June, the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine called on the school district to end the dissection of cats and other animals in science classes. October 18, PCRM was notified by California’s Newport-Mesa Unified School District that it will “eliminate animal dissection and use electronic means in its lessons [instead].” Dr. John Pippin, PCRM’s director of academic affairs, called the move a victory for animals, students, and educators. A wide range of scientific educational associations, such as The National Association of Biology Teachers and the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, endorse computer-based dissection for all levels of scientific education.