Kinship Circle | Letter Campaigns

11/17/09: Ask Texas Tech To End Cat Labs For Good

SOURCE OF INFORMATION / BACKGROUND

UPDATE - 12/29/09: Torture At Texas Tech Ends For Cats!
SOURCE: Victory! Texas Tech Drops Cruel Cat Lab

12/29/09, SUMMARY: Though Texas Tech University Health Service Center (TTUHSC) earlier agreed to stop purchasing cats from Odessa, Texas Animal Control, it was unclear whether they'd permanently replace the cruel labs with synthetic models like simulators and manikins. Now it's official. PETA says university reports confirm: "TTUHSC will no longer use cats for this training!" We're certain that the thousands of Kinship Circle followers who sent comments in one of our highest participation campaigns ever contributed to this big win for animals.
THIS CAMPAIGN HAS ENDED.

• Has Texas Tech Quietly Stopped Killing Cats?
• Live Cats Used in Cruel Training Courses at Texas Tech
• Public records show Texas Tech uses live cats in medical training

CONTACT INFORMATION + SAMPLE LETTER

CONTACT INFORMATION • SEND THIS LETTER

Mary Croyle, Managing Director,
Communications and Marketing
3601 4th Street Stop 6235 / Lubbock, TX 79430-0002
ph: 806-743-2143 ext. 227
email: mary.croyle@ttuhsc.edu

Danette Baker, Associate Director,
Communications and Marketing
3601 4th Street Stop 6235 / Lubbock, TX 79430
ph: 806-743-2143
email: danette.baker@ttuhsc.edu

John Charles Baldwin, M.D.
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE -- HSC
3601 4th Street Stop 6258
Lubbock, TX 79430
ph: 806-743-2900, 806-743-2370
email: john.baldwin@ttuhsc.edu

Steven Lee Berk, Academic Dean
Texas Tech University
3601 4th Street, Stop 6207
Lubbock, TX 79430
ph: 806-743-3000 ext. 4106
email: steven.berk@ttuhsc.edu

Kent Hance, Chancellor
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409
ph: 806-742-0012
email: kent.hance@ttu.edu

Professor James E. Heavner
Anesthesiology Department LBK GENL
3601 4th Street Stop 8182 / Lubbock, TX 79430
ph: 806-743-2916 ext. 258
email: james.heavner@ttuhsc.edu

Professor Rial Dewitt Rolfe
Vice President, Academic Services LBK
3601 4th Street Stop 6298 / Lubbock, TX 79430
ph: 806-743-2905
email: rial.rolfe@ttuhsc.edu

SOURCE: info.ttu.edu/

Texas Tech University, Animal Care Services
Box 43132 / Lubbock, TX 79409
ph: 806-742-3722 ext. 286
IACUC coordinator: iacuc@ttu.edu
SOURCE: www.depts.ttu.edu/iacuc/Submissions.php

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mary.croyle@ttuhsc.edu, danette.baker@ttuhsc.edu, john.baldwin@ttuhsc.edu, steven.berk@ttuhsc.edu, ent.hance@ttu.edu, james.heavner@ttuhsc.edu, rial.rolfe@ttuhsc.edu, iacuc@ttu.edu

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SAMPLE LETTER • SEND THIS LETTER

Dear Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center:

I understand that after two decades, Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) has not purchased cats for research from Odessa, Texas Animal Control this year. I hope TTUHSC has joined over 90% of U.S. and Canadian facilities that use simulated models for medical training courses.

I am surprised that TTUHSC relies upon old-fashioned animal experiments in the first place. Please permanently replace animal labs with synthetic models like simulators and manikins.

Though human-focused tools yield data more relevant to people, TTUHSC courses have featured a drill in which students drive plastic tubes down cats' windpipes, causing them to bleed or swell. Constant intubation can scar throat tissue and lead to collapsed lungs or death.

Cats have also undergone a procedure that pumps air into their chest cavities. Trainees try to extract the surplus air via an inserted needle.

Animal-free learning methods cut overhead to confine, feed and destroy cats. A timely New England Journal of Medicine article highlights the "very detailed feedback and...more subtle measurement of trainee performance" gained from virtual reality simulators. The article concludes: Inanimate models are "safe, reproducible, readily available, and cost-effective."

Moreover, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association — the agencies that sponsor most pediatric life- support courses nationwide — don't promote animal use. They advocate synthetic models that give students an accurate depiction of human, not feline, anatomy.

Please let me know if TTUHSC has, in fact, replaced live cat use in medical training with superior and humane non-animal technologies.

Thank you,

EASILY PERSONALIZE AND SEND COMMENTS NOW

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DISCLAIMER: The information in these materials is verified with the original source. Kinship Circle does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information or for the consequences of its use. Nothing on this website is intended to encourage illegal action in whatever country you are reading it in. Kinship Circle does not engage in, nor support, any form of harassment or unlawful activity. Nothing in this action alert serves to promote such conduct.

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