Mad Science

From local6.com:

Class Dissection Of Live Dog Outrages Parents, Students

A biology class lesson in Gunnison, Utah involving the dissection of a live dog has outraged some parents and students, according to a report.

Biology teacher Doug Bjerregaard, who is a substitute teacher at Gunnison Valley High School, wanted his students to see how the digestive system of a dog worked.

Bjerregaard made arrangements for his students to be a part of a dissection of a dog that was still alive.

The dog was still alive, but the teacher said it was sedated before the dissection began.

With the students watching, the sedated dog's digestive system was removed.

"It just makes me sick and I don't think this should go on anywhere and nobody's learning from it," student Sierra Sears said.

The teacher said the lesson would allow students to see the organs actually working.

"I thought that it would be just really a good experience if they could see the digestive system in the living animal," Bierregaard said.

The school's principal, Kirk Anderson, said notifications went to parents explaining the dog was going to be euthanized and that the experiment would be done with the dog's organs still functioning.

The teacher is standing by his decision and calls it the ultimate educational experience.

Principal Anderson said he supports the lesson and it will be allowed to continue because the students are learning.

The dog used in the experiment was going to be euthanized despite the class project.
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A group related to PETA responds:

Treating animals like scientific "tools" is clearly not the message that teachers should be sending to impressionable students. James Petersen, the superintendent for the school district notes the following in a public statement:

"We wish to apologize that the incident happened. Such procedures have not been a part of our curriculum in the past and will not be allowed in the future. We wish to assure the public that our instructional practices are intended to provide students with the highest levels of humane treatment and respect for all living things. All of our instructional staff will receive instruction on current Utah policy as outlined in the Utah Guidelines for Responsible Use of Animals in the Classroom.

The South Sanpete School Board and District administration deeply regret the situation that occurred and will carefully review the incident. Any disciplinary action taken will be in accordance with District and State guidelines and advice from our legal counsel."

While we applaud this step in the right direction, we are encouraging the district to enact a policy prohibiting the use of all animals in its curriculum.

...The majority of medical schools in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale, have replaced their use of live animals in physiology, pharmacology, and/or surgical-training exercises with humane and effective non-animal teaching methods.
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Although Principal Kirk Anderson stood by teacher Doug Bierregaard's "ultimate educational experience," Superintendent James R. Petersen of South Sanpete School District exercised some common sense and apologized for the inappropriate lesson, putting an end to the use of living animals for dissection in the classrooms of the School District.

If the majority of medical schools in the country no longer use live animals as part of their teaching methods, the classroom dissection of a living dog for a group of high schoolers cannot be considered appropriate. Med students, future doctors, don't even have this type of "educational experience".

The only thing students who witnessed the dissection of the dog learned is that our culture considers life expendable.

It's interesting that the School District quickly issued an apology, citing the need for humane treatment and respect for ALL living things. The school was no doubt inundated with complaints from across the country, if not the world.

Petersen makes reference to possible disciplinary action in the matter. If Bierregaard loses his position as a substitute teacher with the School District, he may want to sue. Do you think George Felos would agree to represent him?