The World Week for Animals in Labs is from April 18 to 25. Would humans be able to endure even one week of the pain and suffering the lab animals go through their whole lives? Why should innocent animals have to suffer? It's just evil. So EVIL is KARA's campaign slogan, as the anacronym above shows.

For its part during WWAIL week, KARA put some resources on it's Korean site, wrote letters of protest to various city councils around Korea, and is currently campaigning against science classes that involve dissections, including the bizarre kids science program run by Home Plus. See below for quick links.

Home Plus

Korea's Backward Science Curriculum

KARA's Protest Letter

Supporting Documents

It is KARA's view that we have a duty to promote reform to end the needless torture and ultimate death of lab animals. Countless numbers of innocent animals are forced to endure their whole lives in barren steel cages for what is often dubiously called scientific or medical progress.

Korea's current animal protection law on lab animal tests states that "the dignity for the lives of animals used in medical development for human welfare must be enforced." And furthermore, "alternative measures" must first be considered. Based on these principles, the Ethics Committee for Lab Animal Tests was established to protect laboratory animals and ensure they are treated ethically.

However, there are no laws concerning animals used for vivisection and dissection in Korean schools. Reportedly, the practice is to cut open live fish and frogs. The frogs are given an injection of some kind to keep them still while they are being sliced open. Apparently, they still squirm under the scalpel. There is no telling what they suffer or feel. The same practices are performed in after-school programs, children's science classes, cultural centers, educational institutes, and even in a Home Plus program.

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Home Plus

Home Plus has advertised a kids program by promoting dissections. The lives of animals will be sacrificed for what it calls a "One day science class to satisfy your curiosity." Despite strong objections from the public, Home Plus has gone ahead with their absurd money making endeavor.

The ad above states:

One day science classes to satisfy curiosity.

Science class: Vivisection of fish
4/25 (Sat) 14:30-15:20 | Materials 6,000 won.

Science class: Vivisection of toad
4/25 (Sat) 15:30-16:20 | Materials 6,000 won.

Science class: Dissection of cow's eyes
4/25 (Sat) 16:30-17:20 | Materials 8,000 won.

Science class: Dissection of pig's hearts
4/25 (Sat) 17:30-18:20 | Materials 10,000 won.

This next ad states:

Curiosity fulfilled! Anatomy classes

Kim Eun Soon (Expert Lecturer of Science Research Team)

Explore Fish by dissecting carps
3/3(Tues) 15:00-15:50
Materials 6,000 won (1 per person)

Explore Amphibians by dissecting toads
3/3(Tues) 16:00-16:50
Materials 8,000 won (1 per two persons)

Explore Cow's eyes that are similar to human eyes
3/3(Tues) 17:00-17:50
Materials 8,000 won (1 per person)

Explore the function of pig's hearts through dissection
3/3(Tues) 18:00-18:50
Materials 10,000 won (1 per two persons)

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Korea's Backward Science Curriculum

What a shame that in Korea elementary school students are handed a medical knife and without any hesitation are asked to satisfy their curiosity by slicing up an animal. It would not seem at all justifiable.

It's part of a craze at the moment in Korea. Professor Kim Yong Mi (Children's Welfare Education) commented in an interview about this craze for extra curricular science classes, like the one offered by Home Plus, and the prevailing "satisfy your curiosity" mentality (translated from the Korean):

Speaking from an educator's viewpoint, this is a very alarming issue that needs to be dealt with seriously. Animals are the most precious friends of people. Children should be taught that animals and the human race must live together in this world, but instead a knife is put into their hands to explore the inner organs of animals as if they were mere objects. There are questions to be raised concerning the emotional growth of sensitive students and the educational value of such vivisection classes."

Furthermore, she speaks out against the needless and noneducational practices of vivisection:

There is nothing that children can possibly gain understanding of through vivisection and animal anatomy classes. Rather they may lose respect for life. Although there are relevant alternative methods to learn anatomy without resorting to vivisection, animal anatomy classes are perversely carried out by taking advantage of the curiosity of children. Behind it all is nothing more than a scheme to make money out of kids and parents.

Why is Korea so behind the times?

More than 90% of medical schools in universities throughout the United States like Duke, Yale, Stanford, and Harvard Universities have stopped using live animals to educate their medical students.

The American Medical School Association (AMSA) has begun urging alternative methods to be used for medical training instead of the use of animals. The AMSA strongly objects to and is critical of animals bought from Class B animal suppliers and dog shelters as experimental tools. They consider such acts unethical, immoral, unjustifiable, and unnecessary. And it is their view that medical courses that use live animals as tools for medical training must be made optional for students who object to it.

KARA similarly hopes that all the pain, torture, agony that lab animals have to suffer is ended once and for all. And it hopes that Korean children will reject vivisection and dissections and the public will develop a conscience and suspicion about this new money-making trend.

KARA has asked that the Ministry of Education to act swiftly to regulate and restrict such unnecessary and indiscriminate extra curricular vivisection/dissection science courses aimed at children.

KARA has also requests that Home Plus and other vivisection class operators to reconsider whether vivisection and animal anatomy classes are genuinely for educational purposes or not, and if not, to pursue other methods of teaching anatomy.

This material for the World Week for Animals in Labs was prepared by Jeon, Jinkyung and Yuni Williams (April 14th 2009)

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KARA's Protest Letter

Mailing Date: 2009, April 22nd
Recipients: Seoul City Board of Education

Additional Recipients:

Busan GwongYuk City Board of Education  
Inchon GwongYuk City  Board  of Education  
North JeonRa Province Board of Education
Gwongwon Province Board of Education
North Choongchung Province Board of Education
Gyong Gi Province Board of Education
South JeonRa Province Board of Education
DaeGu GwongYuk City Board of Education
Jaeju City's Special Administration Board of Education

Senders: All of KARA's 9,800 members

Topic: A Strong Request to the Board of Education to Take Action Against Reckless/Indiscriminate Vivisection

How do you do? We are KARA's (Korean Animal Rights Advocates).

1. Recently, we have seen after-school programs on dissection conducted indiscriminately by primary schools, educational facilities for the gifted, libraries, private academies, lifelong education centers, and even at the Home Plus discount retail chain.

2.  This is not acceptable and animal experiments and live dissections should not be carried out if at all possible. Even when such practices are absolutely necessary, they must be done with a deep consideration for the value and the dignity of life and in accordance with the principles of environmental ethics.

What we want to stress emphatically is that our children, our students, are getting information that can be obtained in other ways--through the use of technologies in the form of videos and/or computer simulations, and other non-animal methods.

Please see the article entitled "The Perception / Awareness of Dissection as Seen by Middle School Teachers and Students," written by Yi, Seon Gyong, Yi Jae Yong, Kim In Ho, which appears in the Korean Journal of Science Education, 16th edition, 4th issue, pp. 451-460 (1996).

3. At present, after-school science classes of all kinds are practicing dissection indiscriminantly, without guidelines and without conveying any respect for life. Respect for life is abused systematically under the presumption of biological education. Furthermore, these dissection classes do nothing to promote the higher level of education the students definitely need. To use dissection simply as a means to "satisfy one's curiosity" cannot be seen as having any educational merit whatsoever.

4. In the case of Home Plus and lifelong education centers, vivisection and/or dissection classes that use the eyes of cows, ducks, and the hearts of pigs, and so on, are outrageously advertised as "One day of satisfaction to fulfill your curiosity science lab classes." The operators of these science classes came up with a list of excuses/reasons for using these body parts, such as "We use animals that are eaten by people," and "The animals are dead anyway, they can be used like 'materials for experiments', so there is no problem using them." They also said their vivisection and/or dissection programs are designed as a preliminary to junior high school science classes and are for elementary students. In effect, they want to capture the elementary student market. This kind of mentality shows a dangerous pattern of disdain and contempt for life.

Please see the website resource listed below as "In conjunction with World Lab Animal Week, KARA's campaign message "Wasteful and Unjustifiable Lab Animal Experiments Must End."

5. There is no beneficial advantage to society through the use of dissection classes and the alleged education of minors. It is but a loss. Proof of the results obtained through research and surveys on Middle school students and teachers who participated in dissection classes are supplied with our supporting documents for your review.

We firmly request that you intervene and take appropriate measures against all of these animal vivisection/dissection classes and relay to them the message we are addressing to you.

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Supporting Documents

Additional Material 1:

"The Perception / Awareness of Dissection as Seen by Middle School Teachers and Students," written by Yi, Seon Gyong, Yi Jae Yong, Kim In Ho, which appears in the Korean Journal of Science Education, 16th edition, 4th issue, pp. 451-460 (1996).

Additional Material 2:

In conjunction with World Week for Animals in Laboratories, KARA's campaign slogan, "Indiscriminate and Unjustifiable Vivisection Must End" http://www.withanimal.net/tt-cgi/tt/site/ttboard.cgi?act=read&db=w04&page=1&idx=26330

Additional Material 3:

Summary of Contents of "The Perception / Awareness of Dissection as Seen by Middle School Teachers and Students."

*   It is of utmost importance that The Science and Technology Society (STS)
be of relevance to science education. Scientific literacy problems are presented as important goals to be dealt with in science education. To have young, primary school students perform vivisection/dissection on animals without any prior knowledge, education, or even before the development of a critical mind, problems will arise such as for one, the insensitivity to the rights of animals.

* Though they try to free themselves of a guilty conscience by reasoning that dead animals and dead livestock animals are used, in the case of those surveyed on conducting vivisection/dissection on shellfish, frogs, squids, goldfish, fish, chickens, etc., 35.1% felt a little trauma, and 6.8% had an agonizingly traumatic experience. If live frogs and other animals were given anesthesia before being experimented on, the survey results would show a different margin.

*  37% of the Middle and High School teachers that were surveyed on vivisection responded that they did it solely because it was part of a school curriculum. The students that were surveyed on the ethics of vivisection replied, 'If there is a way to learn to have dignity for the animals, it would be OK' (males-39.3%- females 56.1%), 'Vivisection is wrong when a live species is used as a mere tool and merchandise.' (males 22.7%- females 15.9%)

* Vivisection must not be performed if at all possible. From the point of environmental ethics, if vivisection is performed without any consideration for all concerned, it amounts to species discrimination, if not a distorted view of the animal species. Instead of educating the students to have inspiration for life, they are being taught to have an attitude of disdain for the value of life and to stir up contempt for life by using animals as a tool and merchandise.

* Even more than ever these days, science classes put pressure on the public and aggressively promote science education, but it should not be through vivisection where live animal's organs are exposed and cut up. Teachers and students alike really want and need alternative learning tools such as technologically advanced videos, computer graphics, and simulations for teaching and study.

When it is necessary to perform vivisection/dissection in biology classes, careful thought must be given to the methods used and for proper procedures for animal welfare.

Additional Material 4:

English abstract of "The Perception / Awareness of Dissection as Seen by Middle School Teachers and Students."

This ethical issue surround deissection is one of the most important in both science and environmental education. Especially in relation to the rights of other species, animal dissection tends to elicit two contradictory attitudes.

In spring 1996, a survey was conducted to assess the status of animal dissection in secondary schools and the awareness of 94 biology teachers and 422 secondary students toward animal dissection. And the meaning of animal dissection in biology class was discussed in terms of environmental education.

The findings were as follows:

First, most of the students (96.6%) had participated once or twice in animal dissection experiments (e.g. fish, shellfish, cuttlefish and chicken). And about half of the teachers (57.4~64.9%) and some students (41.9) felt a conflict about animal dissection.

Second, many teachers (81.0%) and students (87.1%) thought that animal dissection was an effective method to achieve the goal of biology education, but they needed to have more consideration on the respect for life during animal dissection experiments.

Third, many teachers (88.3%) had students, who objected to animal dissection, participate obligatorily or passively.

Fourth, teachers and students thought that audio-visual media such as video (teachers 22.2%, students 24.1%) could be effective as alternative learning tools. These findings suggest that animal dissection experiments, although needed to achieve the goal of biology education, requires careful consideration on the rights of animal and the respect for life, and to provide alternatives for students who object to animal dissection in biology classes.