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Summary of Question:	Dissection
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Thursday, 5/24/2001 4:51 AM MDT

Should sikhs carry out animal dissections during school or uni activities?

What does Sikhi teach about vivisection?

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REPLY
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Dear K Kaurji:

Sat Siri Akal.
Sikhi teaches us not to take the life of ANY living creature for personal need, except as part of self defense or defense of a weaker being. Additionally, Sikhi teaches that under no circumstance should any creature suffer or die slowly; that if we must kill for any reason, death should be swift. (For example, SGPC Rehat Maryada says Sikhs should not eat meat from creatures that have died slow deaths.)

Usually the animals dissected in schools & universities are ALREADY dead before you get to them (althouth I do not know HOW they are killed). So you yourself have not taken that creature's life. Moreover, it is a whole group of people who are part of the class, not just one person. So responsibility is, in a manner of speaking, spread around.

Beyond that, if you want to enter certain field of bio-science (medicine, biology, veterinary science) you have to be willing to dissect dead creatures. That said, you might find you personally draw a different line on this matter and feel you cannot dissect dead creatures under any circumstances. If so, you would have to take it up with the school or university directly.

Guru Rakha,
-DKK