Although cats could be considered Bakersfield College’s unique natural resource, those dissected in basic human anatomy classes are not harvested from the abundance of cats which live on campus.
Instead, kitty cadavers are obtained through biological supply houses, which get their supply of cats from overpopulated animal shelters, according to biology professor Dr. John Ackland.
He said that there are three cats or dogs for every man, woman and child in the United States, making cats an abundant resource for dissection. Each cat corpse costs $30 apiece. With 24 pairs of students dissecting cats this semester, it cost the school $720.
Basic human anatomy is a required course for many students at BC. The class takes students on a journey through the human body. Along the way, they learn every part of the human body. Some would say the most dreaded part of anatomy is the notorious cat dissection.
Ackland has been teaching at BC for 33 years, and overseeing the in-depth look at the insides of man’s other best friend for 22. He said the initial reaction of repulsion or fear of dissection is always gone after the first day.
“At first they’re a little squeamish, but once they do it, they loosen up,” he said.
According to Ackland, the only surprises he receives are when students find internal oddities, such as hernias or parasites.
Most students agreed that the worst part of the dissection was the first day. Many said it was because the first day is when they skinned the animals, leaving fur on only the head and paws and cutting off the tail. Others said it was only a matter of rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty.
“It’s kind of shaky at first but once you cut it open and get inside, it’s kind of cool,” said Jonathan Coston, a sophomore, psychology major.
One thing that is noticeable when entering Ackland’s classroom and the students have let the cats out of their bags is the smell. Students had a lot of theories about the smell, some said it was the internal fluids or the partially digested stomach contents like cat food and chicken, which sat next to the cat carcasses in a little pile. Still others said the smell comes from an intangible source.
“Death, it smells like death,” said Casey Pinheiro, a nursing major.
Students’ stomachs also are spared from dealing with blood spilling out of the cat every time they make an incision with their razors. The preservation process suspends the cat’s blood as a stringlike solid substance.