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North Van student duo saves animals from dissection, earns award

Who can forget when Elliott saves hundreds of frogs from dissection by setting them free in the classic film E.T.
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Who can forget when Elliott saves hundreds of frogs from dissection by setting them free in the classic film E.T.?

A couple of Grade 12 Sutherland Secondary students have taken a less dramatic approach in their efforts to make a point about animal dissection in the classroom.

Shiqi Xu and Naiara Peruchena appealed for a student choice policy in front of the North Vancouver Board of Education this past spring.

Five years ago, when Xu and Peruchena were presented with a cow’s eyeball to dissect in Grade 8, they didn’t blink.

Xu poked around at the eyeball, while Peruchena picked up a scalpel “because everyone else in the class was doing it.”

But then something shifted in Xu’s gut when she starting taking Biology 12. A fetal pig dissection was a major part of the course, worth 20 per cent of the grade – even more than the final exam.

That's when Xu became curious.

“Where do these fetal pigs even come from?” she questioned internally.

Already vegans and charter members of Sutherland’s Meatless Monday club by this point, Xu and Peruchena connected with Elizabeth Ormandy, executive director of the Animals in Science Policy Institute. The Vancouver-based charity aims to build a more ethical culture of science that respects animal life.

A cursory online search uncovered the pigs used for classroom dissection are a by-product of the pork industry.

But that answer didn’t satisfy Xu and Peruchena.

“The thing about the animal agriculture industry is that no animal really gets pregnant by accident. They are all artificially inseminated,” explains Xu, who also learned there’s an industry in itself to sell dissection specimen to educational institutions, including high schools.

Ethical questions arose inside the students’ minds: “Do I really want to do this? And how necessary is it in my learning?” says Xu.

There are a whole range of reasons, adds Xu, why students might want to opt out of dissection, from personal to religious.

So, Xu and Peruchena explored what other ways students can get a biology lesson without slicing into an animal.

They invited Ormandy to come and give a presentation to members of the Meatless Monday club at Sutherland about dissection alternatives.

“What we are trying to implement is virtual dissection,” says Peruchena.

With a student choice policy, students will have the option to opt out of the physical dissection and instead dive into the different layers of the animal, including the heartbeat, in augmented reality.

Virtual dissection apps are readily available online, in some cases for $4. Apple has a program that sees users wield a stylus to peel the skin off a virtual frog.

Most students have to do at least one dissection as part of their high school education, even though less than one per cent of these students advance to careers where knowledge of animal dissection is relevant, according to the Animals in Science Policy Institute.

Typical species used for dissection can include frogs, fetal pigs, crayfish, rats, starfish and cows.

Before they presented their student choice proposal to the board of education, Xu and Peruchena circulated a petition through their high school, as well as Handsworth and Seycove.

Peruchena said the feedback they got from the 200 students who signed the petition focused on not feeling physically comfortable with cutting into animals in the classroom.

This process, Xu clarifies, does not stonewall students who still want to have that tactile biology experience.

“The emphasis is on choice,” says Xu.

Currently, students at Sutherland can tell their teachers if they don’t feel comfortable with dissection, as Xu did, and other lessons can be arranged.

In the end, she saved at least one swine.

Xu talked with her teacher and came up with a different learning plan. She collaborated with a fellow Biology 12 student and together they designed two dissection alternatives – one for visual learners and another for the tactile set. The latter option allows the student to use various materials to creatively build a 3D model of the fetal pig. 

These dissection alternatives still meet the course objective, focusing on the fetal pig to draw comparisons with human anatomy.

A perfect 100 per cent was the mark stamped on the project. Then Xu learned she and Peruchena were to be honoured at an Animals in Science Policy Institute event on Nov. 16, for their efforts to reduce the use of animals in their classrooms.

Xu and Peruchena were awarded cash prizes of $250 each to spend on educational materials, as well as commemorative plaques made from reclaimed local wood.

By advocating for students to opt out of dissection without penalty, Xu and Peruchena's legacy will allow other students to follow their lead and choose ethical educational options, stated a release from the Animals in Science Policy Institute.

Both students credit former Sutherland teacher Cynthia Bunbury for encouraging them to stand up for what they believe in.

“She truly cares about students and getting the student voice out there," says Peruchena. “Without Ms. Bunbury, I really don’t think neither of us would have done everything that we have up until now.”

When approved, North Vancouver will be the fifth out of 60 school districts in B.C. to have a student choice policy on dissection.

The proposal has already gone to the Policy Review Committee and a subcommittee has formed, said North Vancouver School District spokeswoman Deneka Michaud.

“Initial research has been done (including gathering student choice policies related to animal dissection from other school districts) and work will move forward into the new year,” added Michaud.

“The intention of the student choice policy related to dissections is not to remove the learning, but to teach it in different ways. For example, students can learn animal biology through computer programs.”

In the West Vancouver school district, alternative accommodations are made for students who choose not to participate in animal dissection, including computer simulations or personal research.

At the awards ceremony, Xu gained furthur perspective about animal intelligence after hearing a presentation from ethologist and author Jonathan Balcombe about “what a fish knows,” the title of Balcombe’s book.

“He really gave life to these fish,” says Xu. “They have minds and they have social interactions. After that I really saw them as a lot more similar to me, than I did before.”