Ask the University of Virginia to End the Use of Cats in Its Pediatrics Residency

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Ask the University of Virginia to End the Use of Cats in Its Pediatrics Residency

We need your help to stop the abuse of cats by the University of Virginia. Today, PCRM filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, explaining that the school is violating the federal Animal Welfare Act by using live cats in its pediatrics residency program. Please help this effort by asking the school to end the use of animals today.

At the University of Virginia (UVA) breathing tubes are pushed down the throats of live cats to teach endotracheal intubation. This painful procedure is repeated numerous times on each animal and can cause tracheal bruising, bleeding, and severe trauma. Nonanimal training methods exist, making this use of animals not only cruel but unnecessary.

Further, UVA acquires cats for this training from an animal dealer (Liberty Research of Waverly, N.Y.) with a history of repeated violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Between July 2009 and April 2011, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors found 11 violations of the AWA, highlighting Liberty Research’s lack of sanitation and maintenance of housing units for cats and dogs.

So far, the responsible UVA faculty and administrators have ignored pleas to change this practice. Please e-mail UVA School of Medicine dean Steven DeKosky, M.D., and urge him to end this cruel and unnecessary practice. Send an automatic e-mail.

Gaumard’s Premie HAL and PREMIE Blue simulators, designed to mimic the airway of a premature newborn; Laerdal’s SimNewB, which was developed in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics; and METI’s BabySim can all be used for this type of training. UVA’s state-of-the-art simulation center already owns a BabySim so the switch to simulation can be made immediately.

More than 94 percent of pediatrics residency programs in the United States do not use animals. It is time for UVA to join the majority. Please e-mail Dr. DeKosky today and ask him to replace the use of animals in UVA’s pediatrics residency program.

You can read our complaint to the USDA here.

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We have provided text for you, but if you decide to write your own message, please be polite and encouraging.

Here are some talking points:

1. Please replace the use of cats in UVA’s pediatrics residency program.
2. Anatomical differences between cats and humans render this type of training suboptimal.
3. UVA is part of a shrinking minority of pediatrics residencies (6 percent) that still use live animals for training.
4. High-fidelity simulators such as Laerdal’s SimNewB, Gaumard’s Premie HAL and PREMIE Blue, and METI’s SimBaby accurately replicate the airway of a premature newborn, optimizing training and feedback.
5. UVA already has a state-of-the-art simulation center that can easily provide nonanimal training methods.

Special note: If you are not a U.S. resident, please enter your postal code at the bottom of this form.


Message Text

I am writing to ask that you immediately end the use of cats in the University of Virginia’s (UVA) pediatrics residency program. The use of live animals for this purpose is cruel and outdated. Ninety-four percent of pediatrics residency programs in the United States use human-based methods for this type of training. UVA already has a state-of-the-art medical simulation center that can easily provide nonanimal training methods, so there is no justification for the continued use of live cats. Please end this cruel and unnecessary practice immediately.



See More: Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine

live cats do not
experiments
make
so it is time
for the next step
to make
you violate the rules
of decency and the law
so do not do
this
anymore!!!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson