After Years of Advocacy From Legislators, Physicians, CU Anschutz Replaces Animals in Surgical Training

DENVER, Colo.—The University of Colorado Anschutz has confirmed it halted the use of live animals for training surgeons, following years of advocacy from Colorado state legislators and physicians. CU Anschutz Chancellor Donald Elliman confirmed the change in a June 8 letter to Colorado House Majority Leader Monica Duran, writing, “the surgical program has transitioned away from the use of live animals for training and, as of May, no longer incorporates them into the curriculum.” The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which urged the medical center to end the practice since 2020, is praising the decision. Previously, CU surgeons-in-training cut open live pigs to remove organs and perform procedures before staff killed the animals.

Prior to Duran’s letter, 13 state legislators, led by Sen. Cathy Kipp, wrote to Elliman in May. In an unsigned response to that earlier letter, CU defended its use of animals. It remains unclear what caused the medical center to change its position in a matter of weeks. However, Elliman’s most recent letter confirmed the 2025 purchase of a device from Strategic Operations that replicates human anatomy, allowing the general surgery residency to “simulate intraoperative bleeding management.”

According to a Physicians Committee survey, 81 percent of surgery programs—including the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, Yale University, and hundreds of other institutions—now teach using only cadavers or advanced simulators modeled on human anatomy and physiology.

“CU has done the right thing for animals and patients,” said Grace Holub, MD, of Parker, Colo., a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologic surgeon who recently retired from 30 years of clinical practice. “My experience practicing on animals in medical school in the 1980s was completely unnecessary, even back then.”

Over the years, the Physicians Committee filed a federal animal welfare complaint against CU, purchased billboards, held doctor-led demonstrations on campus, delivered public comments to the Board of Regents, offered to fund a perfused cadaver demonstration, delivered 66,474 petitions to CU leaders, and worked continuously with state legislators.

Scientific studies conducted by the U.S. Army, Johns Hopkins University, and others have concluded that methods based on human anatomy are superior or at least equivalent to animals for training surgeons. A 2020 military study showed that practicing on Strategic Operations’ Human Worn Surgical Simulator (or “Cut Suit”)—with lifelike skin, breakable bones, and a pumping artificial heart—improves how quickly trainees resuscitate a wounded patient by 10 minutes and reduces medical errors. These tools allow surgeons to perform a procedure multiple times, something not possible when using live animals.

To speak with Dr. Holub or see the correspondence between legislators and CU Anschutz, please contact Reina Pohl at 202-527-7326 or rpohl [at] pcrm.org.