Animal Defenders to Challenge OHSU Board Over Pig Mutilation Drills
For Immediate Release:
June 26, 2024
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Bearing signs that read, “OHSU: Use Simulators, NOT PIGS,” PETA supporters will rally inside Oregon Health & Science University’s final board of directors meeting of the school year on Friday, urging the school to end its invasive procedures on live animals in its obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) physician residency training program.
Where: Robertson Life Sciences Building, Room 3A001, 3rd Fl., 2730 S. Moody Ave., Portland
When: Friday, June 28, 1 p.m.
“Live female pigs are cut open and mutilated during shamelessly cruel and pointless gynecological training drills at Oregon Health & Science University,” says PETA Vice President Shalin Gala. “The school’s refusal to adopt superior, non-animal technology that benefits physicians and patients makes it inferior to other institutions that have already modernized their training.”
Records obtained by PETA show 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 recently obtained internal e-mails revealing that doctors and a trainee at the university have expressed concerns about using live pigs in surgical training—yet the school continues to require the mutilations.
More than 100 accredited OB/GYN residency programs have 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 the group.
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.
