Ethical Animal Use? A Close Look at High School Dissection and Harry Potter’s Potions Class

Crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, Ashwinder eggs, Bicorn horns…these are just a few of the things you’ll find in Professor Snape’s Potions storeroom. 

From dragonhide gloves to unicorn hair wand cores, we see plenty of animal products being used in daily wizarding life, yet we don’t see any discussions happen about animal rights or welfare within the series. Hermione stands up for the rights of elves used in houses but doesn’t question how Bicorn horns are collected and sold for her to throw into her Polyjuice Potion. 

It’s an accepted part of ordinary wizarding life. Students are expected to use these ingredients as part of their mandatory classes – similar to how Muggle students are required to dissect a frog or other animal in their Biology classes. 

But if you think about how many students need to do this each year, that comes out to millions of animals being killed and preserved for a dissection experience that students may not believe in or even need the skills for in a future career.

Where Do Animals Used for Dissection Come From?

The Wild 
The animals used for dissection come from a variety of places. Many are taken straight from the wild, especially frogs, snakes, turtles, and fish. This has a devastating effect on their natural habitats and the food chain. The U.S. Department of the Interior discovered that taking frogs from their habitats for dissection purposes resulted in a lower overall amphibian population. This is because frogs are integral to the functioning of their ecosystems. 

Breeding Facilities 
There are certain facilities that breed and raise animals specifically for the purpose of selling them to biology supply companies that will then provide them for dissections in schools. These facilities are usually considered Class A dealers. 

Pet Stores/Shelters/Thievery
Those who get their animals from these locations are known as Class B dealers. They get their animals from any random source and sell them to dissection companies. The huge problem with this type of dealing is the lack of transparency. Most often, they don’t keep records of where they get their animals from, and many have been found to have stolen peoples’ companion animals to sell. Thankfully, Class B dealers have declined over the years as labs decide to work with only Class A dealers, but there are still Class B dealers in operation in a few states within the U.S. 

Slaughterhouses/Fur Ranches
Some animals bought for dissection are byproducts of another industry. Animals like foxes or rabbits tend to come from fur ranches, while fetal pigs are taken from pregnant mothers that will be killed for meat. ​

​Is Animal Dissection in School Ethical? 

About 20 million animals are used for dissection or other lessons every year in the United States.

Six million of these animals are vertebrates that are dissected in a high school classroom setting. 

These include frogs, cats, fetal pigs, mice, rats, and more. The animals are taken straight from their ecosystems, from shelters, from backyards, or are bred specifically for the purpose of being killed and dissected. Most aren’t humanely killed, either. Investigations have found animal abuse at these companies – such as frogs being put in bags for weeks while alive, rats being embalmed alive, and cats being drowned, gassed, or injected with preserving fluid while still alive.

Purchasing these animals upholds an industry that remains cruel to them for financial gain.

Animal dissection has been part of many school curriculums for years. For those who are pro-dissection, they argue that dissection helps students get a hands-on understanding of anatomy, develop their observation skills, and solidify their desire (or lack thereof) for a career in science. There’s also a belief that alternatives to dissection, like online activities or videos, won’t give students that same experience. 

However, studies have shown that at least a quarter of students are opposed to dissection. With classes where dissection is required, students may drop the class or stop pursuing a science career.

To respect students’ beliefs and values, 11 states have laws that support a student’s choice to not participate in an animal dissection in the classroom. These laws require schools to disclose whether or not dissection is part of a class and protects students who refuse to participate in dissection from punishment.

Ethical Alternatives to Dissection 
​
Ethical alternatives to dissection are actually more financially friendly than real animal dissections. When using real animals, they can only be used once and have to be bought again each school year. However, alternatives can usually be used more than once.

Some alternatives for classrooms are: 

Videos or Computer Programs – this can still give a student an inside look at an animal without them needing to get their hands dirty. Students can watch the material over again if they need to so they can learn the key lesson concepts. 

Synthetic Animals – alternatives like SynFrog or Dissect It kits are hands-on replacements for dissection. They’re meant to allow students to achieve the same dissection experience but without a real animal. SynFrog looks just like a real frog, while Dissect It kits are less lifelike.

Owl Pellets – no animals need to be harmed or disturbed in order to collect owl pellets, as owls who produce them naturally regurgitate them onto the ground where they can be collected and sterilized. Although these pellets can’t be used to study internal organs, they can be used to study the skeletal structures of prey. 

These ethical alternatives to dissection are better options financially, allow all students to participate, and don’t interfere with the balance of ecosystems. They also pose less of a danger to students, as most real animals are embalmed with formaldehyde, which can harm the body when someone is in close contact with it.

​Is Harry Potter’s Potions Class an Ethical Nightmare? 

​Potions is a class that seems mandatory for all Hogwarts students to take, but there are some serious questions to be asked about the ethics of sourcing potion ingredients for a mass market. 

Occamy eggshells are an essential ingredient in making Felix Felicis, and we already know from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that Occamies have a target on their backs because their shells are made of silver. So when their shells are collected for potion ingredients, is there a protocol to collect them without disturbing their nests or the surrounding area? 

What about the caterpillars necessary to make a Shrinking Solution? Are those raised by a facility that provides potion ingredients or are wizards out in the wild taking these caterpillars from their habitats?

We know that magic can be used to replicate things, which could be one way for wizards to get the number of ingredients they need without devastating the environment and the wildlife within it, but it’s not clear whether or not a Geminio charm can be used on living creatures. Is there a spell that wizards can use to leave habitats untouched after they’ve been in them? 

If wizards aren’t using magic to preserve wildlife, what happens to students that want to take a stand? Is it even possible for students to graduate Hogwarts without taking a Potions class? 

Professor Snape doesn’t seem like the type to be empathetic to a student’s complaints about Potions, but we can’t help but wonder if Newt Scamander would have a thing or two to say about this.

​Although there may not be any alternatives to potion-making in the wizarding world that we know of, at least we have them in the Muggle world. 
If you’re like Newt Scamander and are ready to tell the world about how we can stand up for all creatures, take action with us! 


Written by Sarah Dittmeier of Extra Shot Copy

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