Did you know that pigs are one of the few animals to pass the mirror test conducted by Donald Broom at the University of Cambridge? This means that they, unlike most animals, understand reflections and can make use of them. They’re remarkable communicators who form close bonds with one another and often play tricks on their friends. These intelligent individuals are similar to humans in some ways—but the two species clearly have very different bodies.
It’s no secret that when it comes to anatomy and physiology, pigs and humans aren’t the same, so why would anyone use pigs in physician residency training in human trauma management and obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN)?
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is one of the worst offenders when it comes to cruel training on pigs. The school’s OB/GYN program uses female pigs to attempt to teach physician residents about human female bodies, which is harmful to the pigs and to women since mutilating these animals does nothing to advance human healthcare.
OHSU trainees cut into live female pigs, dissect their organs, and perform other invasive surgeries on them in attempts to learn human medicine. Any surviving pigs are killed. There are numerous animal-free training methods available—such as human-patient simulations and virtual reality programs—underscoring that there is no reason to perform these barbaric exercises.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) also tortures pigs. The agency uses them as stand-ins for injured troops in trauma training drills, in which they’re shot, stabbed, burned, and dismembered. More than two-thirds of NATO allies have informed PETA that they don’t use animals for military medical training, proving that it’s unnecessary to do so in order to teach trauma treatment skills. Again, instead of maiming animals, there are numerous human-relevant, non-animal methods that medical personnel can train with to prepare to save patients’ lives on the battlefield.
Pigs are intelligent individuals who deserve to live happy and long lives, not bodies to mutilate for junk science. You can take action for pigs used in cruel medical training by urging OHSU to stop using live pigs for horrific OB/GYN exercises and telling the DOD to end its abuse of animals in trauma drills.
