Where they come from:

In a flier published by Nebraska Scientific, (a major biology supply company which sells both living and preserved animals to schools for use in science education) it was explained that fetal pigs are byproducts of the meat industry, where they are considered a waste product. When sows are butchered, one of the organs removed is the uterus, where fetal pigs in various stages of development can be found. According to this flier, the sows are not bred specifically for the purpose of producing fetal pigs for dissection. When the farmer no longer needs baby pigs, he sends the rather pregnant sows to the market in hopes of recovering some of his or her investment. Fetal pigs not used for education are ground up into fertilizer or discarded.

The 1996 Carolina Biological Supply Company Catalog advertised the price of $5.73 per fetal pig.

Dr. Niehaus, Biology Department Chairperson, informed CAAR members that each year, Radford University estimates the number of fetal pigs needed for that year and advertises the information so that various companies can submit a bid and the university orders from the cheapest supplier. Suppliers may vary from year to year.

Students such as vegans and vegetarians may object to dissection because they feel that it supports the meat industry, to which they are opposed. To such a student, being forced to dissect may be similar as being forced to eat meat.