Besides Halloween, National Chocolate Day and Thanksgiving Day (in Canada) that make October a blast, October is also Cut Out Dissection month! Dissecting animals is inhumane and bad for the environment…here are 4 reasons why:
 

1. Taken Away: dogs, cats, and other animals that are used in dissections often come from local shelters. Others are taken by people called “bunchers” who collect stray animals, steal pets and take free-to-a-good-home companion animals. Also, it is not uncommon for animals to come from fur farms and slaughterhouses.
2. Environment Harm: frogs are the most common animal dissected. However, as the numbers of frogs being dissected are expanding, frogs are declining in the environment. Taking frogs from their natural habitat allow insect populations to escalate, which makes diseases spread faster, allows more crop destruction and increases the use of chemicals to kill the bugs. Also, most people do not dispose of their dissected animal properly. This is a dangerous risk to our water supply, which could very well become contaminated. The toxic chemicals also jeopardize wildlife, soil and food supplies.      
3. Animal Abuse: videos have been taken inside breeding centers for animals that will be used for dissection and these videos show animals being tortured, maltreated and the Animal Welfare Act is often ignored, as workers often inject formaldehyde into an animal after removing them from the gas chamber without first checking for vital signs (formaldehyde causes intense burning and pain in a live animal).
4. Health Hazards: formaldehyde and formalin (a chemical obtained from formaldehyde) are, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a likely carcinogen and they have been linked to cancer in the passages of the nasal, lungs and throat.

 
Please consider these facts before dissecting. Also, there are alternatives including virtual dissection labs and 3D animal models that can be taken apart and studied. You can go tohttp://www.cutoutdissection.comto find out more information on dissection and the alternatives.