Humane Education in Newfoundland
Medical students at Newfoundland's Memorial University-the largest school
in the Atlantic Canadian region-now have the opportunity to spare animal lives while
they learn to save the lives of humans.
Until recently, animals were used as teaching
tools in over 10 medical courses at Memorial University. But the school may soon become
the twelfth in Canada to completely end the use of animals in its education curricula.
More than two-thirds of U.S. medical schools have already stopped using animals in their
classrooms, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, recognizing the ethical and educational
benefits of non-animal alternatives.
When Memorial's Vice President was made aware of
these issues, he agreed that the school's use of animals should stop, and took steps to
see that it would. Later, he released a statement that read: "The use of animals for
teaching purposes has been eliminated from the undergraduate medical program of Memorial
University with one exception. Fully-validated non-animal-based alternatives to that
laboratory are being explored. If successful, it is possible the use of animals for
teaching purposes in this program could be completely eliminated by the 2007-2008 academic
year."
What You Can Do!
Please write to Memorial University and thank the school for replacing the majority
of its animal-based medical courses with humane non-animal methods. Also, politely ask that
the one remaining undergraduate course swiftly follow suit. Dr. Christopher Loomis, Vice
President, Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, Newfoundland A1C 5S7,
Canada; phone: (709)737-2530; fax: (709)737-2552; e-mail:
cwloomis@mun.ca.
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