I'm probably going to get slammed for saying this, but that high school picture of her with the partially dissected cat really makes me cringe. I understand that people in scientific and medical professions have to dissect deceased animals and people to learn things that ultimately benefit animals and people alike, but that's different from posing for a picture with a dead cat in your hands. That's just...troubling to me.
I am not going to slam you, but that is absolutely no reflection on Annie. Probably you did not take high school biology, or you are not from that region.
I also dissected a cat in high school biology class. Wasn't my choice. Everyone in our biology class did so, just as you probably read Catcher in the Rye in your English class. When the teacher tells you to do something you do it.
As I grew up in an area not too far away from where Annie went to school, perhaps this is something that is more common in that region? As we had (and I assume Annie had) already dissected frogs and some other smaller creatures, by the time I had to dissect the cat, I believe that I was not uncomfortable with it.
Why would a high school teacher do cat dissections? Probably to prepare students for college. In college bio labs, you do other stuff that is probably not appropriate for discussion on a forum board. If you are going to have problems dissecting a frog or a cat, you probably want to know that before you select biology as a college major.
Also, it did not look to me as if she were posing for the photo. It looked like someone (probably a member of the staff) was taking photos that day. Keep in mind that the photo was not submitted by a family member, it was submitted by the high school principal. So, this was probably her school files.