After being contacted by more than 10,000 animal lovers, the University of Massachusetts Medical School has committed to permanently ending the use of pigs in its Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) program. They are now part of the vast majority of institutions that use only non-animal methods for ATLS courses. Only 10 out of the 227 surveyed ATLS courses in the United States continue to use animals. Most facilities rely on alternate training methods, including using high-tech mannequins such as Synman and TraumaMan. Both have been recommended by the American College of Surgeons.

One facility that still uses live animals in ATLS training is Massachusetts General Hospital, specifically sheep. As the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine makes clear, it's a gruesome, deadly experience for the sheep: "Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) training at MGH involves cutting into live, anesthetized sheep and practicing procedures such as inserting a tube and needle into the animals’ chest cavities and cutting into their throats. After the training session, the animals are killed. The animals are also subjected to the trauma of confinement, shipping, and preparation for surgery."

Tell Massachusetts General Hospital to end this cruel, unnecessary practice.