Group: Stop using pigs in medical schools
An animal rights group has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling on U.S. colleges to stop killing pigs for educational purposes.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine called on the Medical College of Wisconsin and eight other U.S. schools to stop using live animals in the teaching curriculum, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday.
The Medical College plans to open, examine and kill 36 pigs at the end of February.
"The definition of 'physiology' is 'the study of living systems,'" Allen Cowley, professor and chairman of physiology, said in an internal Medical College memo. "The Medical College's cardiovascular laboratory provides students with an exceptional learning experience."
Richard Katschke, the associate vice president of public affairs at the Medical College, said the use of live animals in medical education is endorsed by the American Physiological Society.
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