I do not believe animals should be used for our betterment. Animals are treated cruelly while in confinement and are slaughtered in inhumane ways. There are many alternatives to dissection and dissection does not teach us anything new. .
The fetal pigs that are used for dissection come from the meatpacking industry and are a "by-product". The breeding pigs, from which the fetal pigs are taken from, are confined to stalls barely larger then their bodies. There is no room to turn around. The stalls are stacked and excrement from pigs higher up falls on those below. Often the stench of ammonia is too overpowering for farmers, who only spend minutes a day in pig buildings. Due to lack of exercise the pigs become so weak they can barely walk 50 yards, slaughterhouse workers jab metal hooks into their eyes, mouths or rectums to force them to move faster. The breeding sows are impregnated several times during their short lives and during the 15-week pregnancy they"re kept in the dark and feed every three days. A pig on a factory farm may only live for five to six months, but that time is filled with disease, pain, fear, and drugs.
There is always an alternative. There are many alternatives to the dissection of animals, including computer simulations, plastic models, films, interactive videos, slide series, classroom charts and much more. There are a number of organizations that offer support to those students who don't want to participate in the dissection. The Humane Education Loan Program; the National Anti-Vivisection Society; International Network for Humane Education (InterNICHE); and 3R Foundation are just some of the international organizations. They also provide alternative materials for classroom use. Several animal protection organizations loan up-to-date dissection materials to students and teachers for no cost except return postage.
What does dissection teach? Dissection does not teach anything more than a labeled chart would do.