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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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