A disturbing new video posted to TikTok by a presumed student of Harlan Community High School in Iowa shows two teenagers laughing as they manipulate a fetal pig to make the animal “dance” on a dissection tray.
Not only is dissecting animals crass and archaic, it’s also completely unnecessary. No U.S. medical school uses animals, so middle and high schools don’t need to, either. There are numerous modern, animal-free alternatives that better educate students on complex biological processes, save schools money, and can prevent countless animals from being killed in slaughterhouses, removed from their homes in nature, or bred in cruel supply houses and then killed.
The FBI has found that young people who are cruel to animals are more likely to exhibit violent behavior in the future—including toward humans. And the other students in the video appear to be uncomfortable and upset by what they’re witnessing. Animal dissection teaches one lesson: that once-living animals are tools to be used, abused, and thrown away like garbage. It has no place in modern education.
PETA is urging Harlan Community High School to end all animal dissection and has offered to pay to replace it with humane science materials such as the hyper-realistic SynFrog or interactive software programs. Take action now to encourage the school to do the right thing by students and animals!