Be Part of a Victory for Pigs
I support Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine partly because of my personal preference for the quiet, methodical, effective way they go about their work. I also like that they're a niche organization–they have a couple of areas of focus and they chip away at them without getting into welfare (too much). And of course, vegan education is a priority for them.
If you're a member of PCRM you recently received an e-mail that stated:
Your activism just made a huge difference. Six weeks ago we called on you to help end the cruel and unnecessary use of live dogs in the University of Michigan’s trauma training course. Thousands of you took action—and the school listened! Today, the University of Michigan announced that it will use only simulators in the Advanced Trauma Life Support course.
You have sent more than 20,000 e-mails to University of Michigan (U-M) administrators, asking them to use nonanimal training methods in their Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course. The school’s Graduate Medical Education Committee recently met and decided that it agrees with you. No dogs or other animals will be killed in the school’s ATLS course, according to a university statement.
If you've been a member for a couple of years at least, you'll recall getting a lot of e-mails (and mailings) like this. PCRM might not get a lot of airtime, but they are saving lives and they are decreasing demand, at least in the US and Canada, for live animals to be vivisected then killed. If you weren't part of the effort to get dogs out of University of Michigan's Advanced Trauma Life Support Course, you can act now and save pigs, who are currently used for University Hospital in Newark's trauma training (part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-UMDNJ). PCRM says:
UMDNJ continues to use live pigs for its course, despite the availability of nonanimal alternatives like the TraumaMan System from Simulab. The hospital’s next ATLS course is scheduled for March 13.
Please e-mail, call, or write to UMDNJ president William Owen Jr., M.D., and politely ask him to end animal use in University Hospital’s ATLS course. Being polite is the most effective way to help these animals.
William Owen Jr., M.D.
President
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
65 Bergen St., Room 1535
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07107-3007
Phone: 973-972-4400
E-mail: wfowenmd@umdnj.edu
If you haven't already, check out the TraumaMan System, which I've seen at work. It's amazing and there's no reason for anyone to claim they "need" to use animals in trauma labs anymore.
