Why Our Animal Lab Will Proceed
We at the Medical College of Wisconsin always strive to respect and listen to those who have concerns or objections to positions we take regarding our work in the fields of education, discovery, patient care and community engagement.
In recent months, animal rights activists have very aggressively and very publicly challenged our humane use of anesthetized dogs in physiology coursework. While we take strong issue with their arguments and agenda, we aren't taking the situation lightly.
As a medical school, it is essential that we remain true to our mission, which is to improve human life by educating the next generation of physicians, discovering ways to prevent and treat illness and injury, and to provide the highest level of patient care.
The fact is the animal rights groups that are challenging us oppose the humane use of any animals for any biomedical research or educational purpose whatsoever. If they were to succeed, we would cease to see any breakthrough advances in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, AIDS/HIV and other devastating diseases.
We strongly disagree with this line of thinking. We believe that the humane and limited use of animals, under strict controls, is necessary for both biomedical research and medical education-- and to advance the ultimate goals of enhancing patient care and saving lives. Therefore, we will continue as scheduled with the physiology animal lab.
You may be interested to know that, while we make the lab optional for students with no penalties for opting out, fully 90 percent of our students choose to participate. Clearly, they find it very worthwhile to their education.
We share the compassion for animals expressed by our opponents. Most of us are pet owners, too. We understand the emotions that can arise when animals are involved in medical education and research. We will also, in the meantime, continue to explore alternative ways to conduct this laboratory, independent of outside pressure. However, having carefully weighed the merits of this situation, we strongly believe it is in the best interests of our students, our school and the pursuit of medical education to proceed as planned.