Feb. 26 Protest Marks Start of Three-Day Class That Will Kill Dogs to Teach Basic Physiology; Most Other U.S. Medical Schools Use Non-Animal Alternati

MILWAUKEE—To protest the start of a three-day course that will kill 60 dogs at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), doctors with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) will join members of the Wisconsin Humane Society and concerned Wisconsin residents for a demonstration outside the college. PCRM cardiologist John Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C., will lead the protest, which calls on medical students to opt out of the controversial class.

MCW’s first-year physiology laboratory, which runs February 26-28, involves anesthetizing the dogs, opening their chest cavities, injecting pharmaceuticals, and killing the animals. The use of animals in the course has been criticized as inhumane and unnecessary by Wisconsin physicians, the Wisconsin Humane Society, medical students, and PCRM. MCW is one of just two U.S. medical schools still offering dog labs and one of the last medical schools in the nation using live animals to teach physiology. The Wisconsin Humane Society and other humane organizations have offered to find homes for the dogs, whose lives will be spared if MCW uses nonanimal teaching tools. MCW has not accepted the offer.

“The death of these 60 dogs is especially disturbing because the Medical College of Wisconsin is one of the last schools in the nation still using live animals to teach basic concepts in physiology,” says Dr. Pippin. “There is simply no excuse for using any animal to teach physiology or other disciplines in the medical education curriculum.”

WHO: PCRM physicians, Wisconsin Humane Society members, and members of the public

WHAT: A protest against the killing of 60 dogs in a Medical College of Wisconsin course

WHEN: Monday, February 26, at 8:30 a.m.

WHERE: The Medical College of Wisconsin, main entrance on North 87th St., Milwaukee

Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research,and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research.