Posted on 08/13/2008 9:41:24 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
A worker at a Baton Rouge photo lab is used to developing photographs of birthday parties, beautiful sunsets, and vacations. But a picture of a girl cutting up a dead puppy was a first.
The worker, from a Baton Rouge Walgreens drug store, immediately called sheriff's deputies who launched an investigation.
Deputies were led to a student from Woodlawn High School who told them her mother had gotten the dead puppy for her from the East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control, according to a police report.
The puppy that was given to the student's mother for the school assignment had previously been euthanized, investigators were told.
Upon further investigation, deputies learned that the dissection of the dead puppy was part of an assignment from the girl's biology teacher, Dennis Dyer.
The assignment read, in part, "Skeletal preparation can be an interesting and rewarding project for those who recognize that beauty and have the stomach for the grosser side of Biology."
A report from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Department says the teacher told his students if they could not find a dead wild animal, they could get one from animal control.
However, Chris Trahan, a spokesman for the school system says that is not true. Trahan says the teacher never instructed students to retrieve a euthanized puppy from animal control.
"If a student chooses to do the skeletal preparation, the dissection is NOT performed at the school but is done at the student's home with parental consent and supervision," Trahan said in a written statement. "The teacher will okay this project only after a permission slip with a parent or guardian's signature is returned to the school."
"The teacher stated that at no time did he direct any of his students to go to the animal control center or the humane society to collect a specimen," Trahan said.
The teacher says the student approached him and stated that she went to animal control and workers there "offered to provide her with a euthanized animal if it was for a school project," Trahan said.
"Once they've been euthanized, they are disposed of," said Hilton Cole, director of the EBR Animal Control Center. "And that's the end of their little lives and it's rather unpleasant. So, if somehow, some way, one of these animals can somehow help a student or help an educational program or enhance a life maybe in the future and stimulate some young mind to become a scientist or an investigator of some sort, I feel like that's a worthy cause," Cole said.
@home?
geesh ... much ado about nothing.
Ya clean fish at home.
Ya prepare raw chicken at home.
Being upset over the dissection of a canine carcass is emotional anthropomorphism run amuck.
It may tug at your hearstrings, but what’s wrong with it?
Cue Dr. Demento!
Dead puppies
Dead puppies
Dead puppies aren’t much fun.
I agree.
It was found that the puppy was already dead. She didn’t strangle it.
I’d give the girl an A for doing it. I would get sick, but clinicals were never my strong point.
So how do they think veterinarians learn about the animals they will be working on?
My daughter wants to be a vet. She is dissecting a frog this year and understands as much as it hurts to see a dead animal, it will help her later in helping animals.
My puppy died late last fall
He’s still rotting in the hall
I do not have a problem with it being a dead puppy. I wonder how much they learn doing it at home instead of in the biology lab at school with the instructor.
or..How do you think MD’s learn about the humans they will be working on?
Yellow mellow custard..........
Digital camera. Digital camera. Digital camera.
Yeesh. I’m afraid to take any film to develop. Used to work in a 1hr photo lab and one of the other employees went through..every..single..picture..looking for something to call the police about.
This was at least ten years ago too before all these citizen photolab police things started making headlines.
Maybe he should have - I think it would be more responsible to use a freshly euthanized carcass rather than finding some maggoty roadkill that may be a vector for disease.
Agree, and I do not want my child bringing home some rotted road kill to dissect in my kitchen:)
HAHAHAHA!
Exactly! Cadavers are excellent donations and people have to look to learn. A computer program only goes so far in teaching and things such as texture and consistency are just as important. A healthy organ feels one way, a diseased organ feels another.
Why is this an issue?
I remember we did such things in HS....
Wasn’t puppies. I think it was frogs.
Seems like we had to put them to sleep, but not kill them, we wanted to see their hearts beating.
I agree...especially under these circumstances. As one of the staunchest dog lovers you'll ever meet, I would aver that one of the most common, and most damaging things dog owners can do to their canines is to project human thoughts and emotions onto their dogs when interacting with them.
Having said that, for those of us in western civilization, dogs and horses occupy a very special place in our lore, our history, our wars, our exploration and discovery of new lands, our hunts and recreation. For many of us there are special bonds that are quite unique between humans and these two critters, and I think it's fair to say they should receive particular consideration for their long association with Homo Sapiens.
Nothing at all wrong with what this girl did; it's not like she did a Dahmer and played with the bones, drool running out of the corner of her mouth. Dogs are euthanized all the time, and I would imagine, someday when this girl is running a succesful veterinary practice, she'll look back fondly on the anonymous dog who may have been unwanted, abandoned and neglected in life, but whose very bones fascinated her with their complexity and function, and inspired her to learn and to marvel at the wonder that is inherent in each of God's creatures.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.