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How do you dispose of a fetal pig?  

post #1 of 13
6/16/07 at 2:33pm
Thread Starter 
Hi! I figured if anyone would know, you folks would.:

We had Science Day at the Murry house, and part of our science day involved dissecting a fetal pig, but I realized halfway through this operation that I had no clue as to how to dispose of it.

I figured I could put it in the trash, but what about the chemicals leaching into the landfill?

What do other intrepid science-loving homeschoolers do?
post #2 of 13
6/16/07 at 2:44pm
i would bury the poor thing, at least 3 feet down and away from your garden and any rivers or lakes.

i understand the concern over chemicals, but the little guy deserves to complete the cycle after all he/she has been through : : :

i think dissection is pretty horrible. please don't take offense- i dissected a fetal pig in HS.
: : : :
post #3 of 13
6/16/07 at 3:03pm
What was it preserved in? If it was preserved in formaldehyde, it's considered to be hazardous waste. You'd need to call your local waste disposal company to ask whether, and how, they would accept it.
post #4 of 13
6/16/07 at 3:08pm
do you have pets and use a veterinarian? if so, they should have a way to dispose of such things and may be willing to dispose of it for you.
post #5 of 13
6/16/07 at 3:10pm
Aha! Here's a guide to disposing of waste materials from biological science projects. It's put out by a science supply company.

http://www.flinnsci.com/Documents/miscPDFs/SF10492.pdf
post #6 of 13
6/16/07 at 4:54pm
It never occurred to me it would be preserved in anything we have a huge meat packing plant (I think ours is mostly pork at this point) and fetal pigs are free for the taking so all the dissections done at the school sand such are freee but also coincide with slaughtering days. the up side is no famaldihide (sp?)
post #7 of 13
6/16/07 at 9:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilyka View Post
It never occurred to me it would be preserved in anything we have a huge meat packing plant (I think ours is mostly pork at this point) and fetal pigs are free for the taking so all the dissections done at the school sand such are freee but also coincide with slaughtering days. the up side is no famaldihide (sp?)
A normal burial, deep enough to prevent animals from digging it up, would suffice.
post #8 of 13
6/16/07 at 11:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Synthea™ View Post
A normal burial, deep enough to prevent animals from digging it up, would suffice.
I'm worried about the chemicals, but I think that the previous poster with the link on disposing of hazardous biological waste helped on that score -- sounds sensible to me.

Thanks, everyone, for your help -- I realize this isn't an everyday question, even for MDC.
post #9 of 13
6/16/07 at 11:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilyka View Post
It never occurred to me it would be preserved in anything we have a huge meat packing plant (I think ours is mostly pork at this point) and fetal pigs are free for the taking so all the dissections done at the school sand such are freee but also coincide with slaughtering days. the up side is no famaldihide (sp?)
See, I'd prefer that. The formaldehyde was very pungent -- we opened up all the windows and had all the fans/vents going, even though it sailed up past the hundreds today. I'd prefer fresh and unformaldehyded pig any day.
post #10 of 13
6/17/07 at 12:18am
Ew!

I'd call a high school, see if they could take it...
post #11 of 13
6/17/07 at 10:44am
I want to live at Meg's house! I loved dissections in school. I still can't tell if we're ready for it here or not...there's a keen fascination with anatomy but I don't know what the reaction would be. We're starting with owl pellets and seeing how that goes first. I can't wait to dissect a frog again! I'm going to bookmark the disposal link.
post #12 of 13
6/17/07 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftField View Post
I want to live at Meg's house! I loved dissections in school. I still can't tell if we're ready for it here or not...there's a keen fascination with anatomy but I don't know what the reaction would be. We're starting with owl pellets and seeing how that goes first. I can't wait to dissect a frog again! I'm going to bookmark the disposal link.
The advice from the link seemed to work out really well. Owl pellets are fun! We've collected almost a whole jarful of little rodenty bones so far.
post #13 of 13
6/17/07 at 2:00pm
Joe would probably love that- me, not so much! We might check into it in a few years though. Maybe.
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