PETA ‘Pigs’ to Confront New OHSU Board Chair Over Live-Animal Mutilation
For Immediate Release:
September 25, 2024
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
PETA supporters will be led by two “pigs” with signs that read, “You Get to Leave. I’ll Die Here,” at the first Oregon Health & Science University Board of Directors meeting of the school year. An election for a new board chair is scheduled to take place at the meeting, as the current chair is stepping down.
The pig protectors will appeal to the school to end its invasive procedures on live animals in its obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) physician residency training program.
“Live female pigs are cut open and mutilated during cruel and pointless training drills,” says PETA Vice President Shalin Gala. “PETA urges the board to elect a visionary chair who will drag the school out of the dark ages and embrace human-relevant OB/GYN training methods that benefit physicians and patients alike.”
Where: Robertson Life Sciences Building, Room 3A001, 3rd Fl., 2730 S. Moody Ave., Portland
When: Friday, September 27, 1 p.m.
Why: PETA has obtained records showing that at least 64 OB/GYN residents at the university have sliced open dozens of live female pigs in invasive practice surgeries, dissected their organs, and killed any survivors in attempts to learn human medicine. PETA also obtained internal e-mails revealing that doctors and a trainee at the university expressed concerns about using live pigs in surgical training. Yet the school continues to require the mutilations, wasting more than $13,000 to purchase and kill 14 female pigs between March 2022 and April 2023.
More than 100 accredited OB/GYN residency programs confirmed that they don’t use live animals in physician training. Programs at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center ended their use of live pigs in favor of animal-free simulation technology after hearing from PETA. Henry Ford Hospital adopted a public policy against this practice after discussions with PETA.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
