Pls. End Pig Labs At John Hopkins Medical School!

jfreisc1@jhmi.edu, emiller@jhmi.edu, cvdang@jhmi.edu, policy@jhmi.edu, acuc@jhmi.edu

Drs. Freischlag and Miller
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
720 Rutland Ave. # 925; Baltimore, MD 21205

Julie Freischlag M.D., Director, Department of Surgery - General Surgery

Edward D. Miller, M.D. Dean of Medical Faculty and Chief Executive Officer
100 SOM Administration
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
733 North Broadway; Baltimore, Md. 21205

Chi V. Dang, M.D., Ph.D., Vice Dean for Research

Office of Policy Coordination [including Use of Experimental Animals]
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
100 N. Charles St., Suite 900; Baltimore, MD 21201

Animal Care and Use Committee
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine


Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am surprised to learn about the use of live pigs in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine third-year surgery rotation. John Hopkins is now the sole top-ranked U.S. medical school that incorporates animal experiments into its basic medical student curricula.

I respectfully ask you to join Stanford, Columbia, Duke, University of Pennsylvania and others among the 144 U.S. allopathic and osteopathic medical schools that have discarded old-fashioned live animal labs.

I understand pigs are anesthetized and sliced open to teach surgical skills intended for humans. Upon conclusion, pigs are killed and discarded. While pigs and people share similar organs, each species is so diverse in terms of its anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and genetics -- animal studies have delayed progress and endangered public safety with misleading data.

It is irresponsible to rely upon animal research when simulators and other animal-free techniques now offer human-focused data and skills.

Research from U.S. and U.K. universities rates a pig's intelligence as above that of a three-year-old child. Certainly, these sentient creatures endure pain, anxiety and fear as surgical "models" confined in laboratories.

Please terminate the use of live animals at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Thank you for your valuable time and consideration.

Sincerely,