It's 2016 and animals are still being used for lab testing and medical training at the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
It appears that this hospital still uses up to 300 rabbits and sheep annually when teaching students, residents and participants in emergency medicine. These animals endure abuse and cruelty such as "making incisions into an animal's throat to insert a breathing tube, inserting needles into the chest to remove fluid surrounding the heart, splitting open the breastbone in order to access the heart, performing various cardiac procedures, cutting the skin near the lateral corner of the eye, and drilling holes into the skull," according to recent findings.
You can help stop this needless cruelty. Urge the hospital's CEO to ban all use of animals for medical and educational purposes and opt for more human-based methods of study in the emergency medicine residency program.
Dr. Pryor:
I am writing with great concern regarding your facility's continued use of animals for training emergency medicine residents.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine reports that common practices still include "making incisions into an animal's throat to insert a breathing tube, inserting needles into the chest to remove fluid surrounding the heart, splitting open the breastbone in order to access the heart, performing various cardiac procedures, cutting the skin near the lateral corner of the eye, and drilling holes into the skull."
[Your comments]
I believe that such practices are in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act and strongly urge you to ban the use of any and all animals in your hospital and medical center. Other study and training methods, such as high-fidelity mannequins, partial task trainers and other resources are available and should be used to replace animals.
Thank you for considering my comments.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
