Now, I have dissected two frogs, a pig, a shark, a grasshopper, a worm, a crawfish, two cats, a rabbit and shadowed for the Springfield Coroner and none of which have made me overly uncomfortable . But dissecting the rat still bugged me.
I don't hate domesticated rats or find them disgusting. Rather I find them intelligent and playful creatures. Domestic ones make great pets aside from the fact most pet rats you find in the pet store for sale are in direct linage from cancer tester rats; in many, in if not most cases a pet rat will have comparatively short life from visible or hidden cancer. So, this still leaves open why dissecting a rat did not settle with me.
The way we went about dissecting upset me. We basically threw a dead rat on the table and cut it up quickly. Then looking at the lab sheet it was apparent from all the material they wanted us to learn, which was little, it didn't even seem necessary to cut into it. To make matters worse this was the only lab period we were using the rat. In short we spent thirty five minutes with an open rat on the table and of that thirty five minutes we only spent about ten minutes actively identifying parts. Unfortunatly most of those rats died for an hours worth of study, if that, just to be thrown away,
Maybe I am just weird, but when I dissect an animal I feel a humbling connection. One of God's creatures gave its life so I could better understand God's handiwork. One should handle the specimen gingerly as reasonable, although the creature is deceased. Any creature that didn't get to feel the full measure of its creation on a humans account deserves respect. Don't just kill to kill or make profit on things other than non-endangered-animal food. Study the creature, use its pelt, cook it or something to that effect.
The lab today could have easily been done with slides or one/two example rats due to the briefness and complexity of the lab. Who cares if it is a rat? We wasted lives today.
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