The People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced Wednesday it have gathered more than 1,300 signatures on a petition protesting the use of cats in educational procedures at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Ian Smith, a research associate for PETA, said the majority of the signatures on the petition are from Tech students and the purpose of the petition is to allow the voice of students who oppose the use of cats in training procedures to be heard by HSC administrators.
Smith said the group has led the campaign against the TTUHSC for several months and hopes the petition can be filed by the end of the month.
The controversy surrounding the use of cats in training exercises in the HSC stems from two procedures: intubation and needle decompression, he said. Intubation is the insertion of a breathing apparatus into the windpipe, and needle decompression is a procedure that allows excess pressure from the lungs to be released.
Smith said PETA is against those types of procedures because of the cruelty and trauma it causes to the animals involved. The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics changed their policies by endorsing the use of simulators in place of animals for these types of procedures.
The HSC generally obtains its cats in October from the Odessa Animal Control, he said.
This year no orders for cats have been processed yet, he said, which could be part of a gradual effort by the HSC to phase out the use of animal control cats.
Controversy on the subject of animal testing at the HSC has been present during the past several months.
A protest on the use of cats for medical training was organized by PETA on the corner of 19th Avenue and University Avenue in May. Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson sent a letter on behalf of PETA to then-HSC President John Baldwin in July asking the university to stop the use of cats in these training exercises.
After a subsequent investigation in August by U.S. Department of Agriculture authorities, the USDA said the HSC is within legal boundaries in its use of cats in training procedures
Robyn Katz, founder of the Tech Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, said her group has been working with PETA to raise awareness on campus and to get student signatures on the petition that will be sent to the HSC.
“In our effort toward tier one, there is no reason for Tech to be behind the times and use animals,” said Katz. “Schools like Harvard and Yale have been using human simulators for years.”
Mary Croyle, director of communications and marketing at the HSC, said in an e-mail to The Daily Toreador she was not aware of the petition.
Spokesperson from the university were not available for comment on the issue of using cats for training in educational procedures, but released a statement about the issue in August.
“General anesthesia is administered to the cats which renders them free of pain and distress during the procedure, and they are closely attended until given humane euthanasia,” according to the statement.
26 comments
Further - any educated person realizes that in the long run, human simulators are far more economical than the annual purchase and processing of live animals. Of more importance however, it is much MUCH better training for America's future doctors.
Real human beings are kind to every livig being that have feelings.
Stop the animal torture!