ANIMAL MATERIAL FOR DISSECTION CLASSES

1
PREPARATION OF ANIMAL MATERIAL FOR DISSECTION
CLASSESJoe Price, Technical Officer -
jprice_at_csu.edu.auSchool of Agricultural and
Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University,
Wagga Wagga, NSW
INTRODUCTION Dissection of animal material is
used in a number of subjects in the School of
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences at Charles
Sturt University and it complements live animal
teaching. Subjects contribute to the Bachelor
Degrees for Veterinary Science, Animal Science,
Equine Science and Agricultural Science. The
three types of specimens used are fresh,
preserved and dry.

• FRESH SPECIMENS
• Whole specimens include dogs, cats, horses, pigs,
  alpacas, chickens, sheep, cattle and fish
• Specific body parts include brains, hearts,
  digestive tracts and reproductive organs
• Animals are sourced from local abattoirs,
  butchers, local producers and speciality animal
  suppliers

• BONE AND DRY SPECIMENS
• Each veterinary science
• student receives a dog bone
• box- consisting of a skull and each of the main
  limbs and vertebrae.
• Bone preparation
• bones are manually de-fleshed as much as possible
• maceration then proceeds in an oxygenated, warm
  water bath for a number of days
• manual scrubbing is used to remove any remaining
  flesh
• holes are drilled into the medullary cavities of
  the bone to facilitate degreasing
• bones are placed in water at 80oC with washing
  powder for degreasing
• bleaching takes place by soaking in 10 hydrogen
  peroxide for several days
• bones are then dried
• Skeletons made up for the
• museum include dog, horse,
• cat, and sheep.

Dog skull
Dog forepaw
Horse carpus
Dissection class
Dog skeleton

• PRESERVED SPECIMENS
• Whole euthanased animals are used for
  preservation.
• Small animals e.g rats, mice and frogs are
  immersed in 10 buffered formalin.
• Medium sized animals e.g dogs, cats, sheep and
  pigs are preserved by replacing the animals
  blood with preservative fluid.
• Preserving process
• Anaesthetise and euthanase
• thiopentone sodium (anaesthetic) and heparin (to
  prevent blood clots) are injected into the venous
  system.
• Exsanguinate
• the animal is bled out and residual blood is
  flushed with saline solution by a peristaltic
  pump.
• Preserve
• preservative fluid, including 10 formalin and
  other ingredients, is pumped into the carotid
  artery and allowed to flow, with any residual
  blood, from the femoral vein of the leg.
• Disinfection
• specimen then bathed in 100 ethanol overnight to
  kill skin microbes.
• Filling blood vessels with coloured glue
• self hardening glue, with dye, is pumped into
  arterial system and allowed to set.
• Specimen is then stored in a coolroom
• Specimens can be stored for up to 2 years.

Horse foot
Horse Head
Lizard viscera
Kangaroo kidney
Laminitic hoof
Special thanks to Allan Nutman Preserving
protocol, Massey University, NZ Don Slade
Arterial glueing techniques, Sydney University,
NSW Brendan Kehoe - Bone preparation, Melbourne
University, VIC Professor Peter Davie and Dr
Geoff Dutton Preserving techniques, Charles
Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW Jenni Horsnell
Poster design