Live Animal Labs Are Dead

In the June 2007 issue of Activate for Animals, we asked our readers to contact some of the eleven remaining medical schools that use live animals in their curricula. This month, we are happy to report that two of these schools, New York Medical College and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), have stopped the use of live dogs and other animals such as cats and ferrets in their laboratory classes.

Unfortunately, however, pigs continue to be killed at CWRU, and it will continue to use live pigs to teach surgeries through the next academic year. A spokeswoman for the school said officials hope to eliminate the procedures after that, but, sadly, six laparoscopy laboratories have already been prepared with the use of live pigs.

On the other hand, by eliminating its dog experiments, New York Medical College (NYMC) became the last medical school in New York to stop the use of live animals in the classroom completely. In the past, about seven dogs were used annually in the labs to teach the biology of a beating heart, and were ultimately euthanized. Recently, however, the school appointed a committee to explore the benefits of alternatives to animal labs and reported that alternatives were just as effective teaching tools.

"We're not teaching open-heart surgery," said Dr. Karl Adler, President of the College. "What we're teaching is first-year medical students to understand how the heart works, and we think that the exposure to using [echocardiography] and the simulators is equivalent now to using a live dog." NYMC joins the ranks of Harvard, Stanford, and numerous other schools that have eliminated live animal laboratories from their curricula. We hope that CWRU will too!

What You Can Do:
Please thank New York Medical College for making the compassionate decision to stop using live dogs. Additionally, thank Case Western Reserve University for halting its use of dogs, cats, and ferrets, but please also politely urge the University to cease its pig experiments immediately. Let the school know that these particular animal labs can easily be replaced by inexpensive, high-quality simulators. Ralph A. O'Connell, M.D., Dean, New York Medical College, Administration Building, Valhalla, New York 10595; phone: (914)594-4000; e-mail: oconnell@nymc.edu. Pamela B. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., Interim Dean, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Ave., BRB 110, Cleveland, OH 44106; phone: (216)368-2825; e-mail: pdb@case.edu.