December 14, 2011 Warner D. Chapman Commonwealths Attorney Room 331, City Hall P.O.

Box 911 Charlottesville, VA 22902 Re: Request for Investigation Action Regarding University of Virginias Use of Live Cats for Pediatrics Residency Training

Dear Mr. Chapman: I am writing on behalf of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) to request that the Commonwealths Attorneys Office investigate the University of Virginia (UVA) for violations of the Virginia animal cruelty statute, Va. Code Ann. 3.2-6570. UVA regularly violates Virginia law by willfully inflict[ing upon animals] inhumane injury [and] pain not connected with bona fide scientific or medical experimentation, Va. Code Ann. 3.26570(A), in the schools pediatrics residency program. We ask the Commonwealths Attorneys Office to investigate the live animal component of this training program and take steps to prevent further violations of Virginia law. Unlike the vast majority of pediatrics residency programs in the United States, UVAs program involves the use of live animals. Specifically, UVA instructs each resident to repeatedly force a plastic tube through the mouth and into the windpipe (trachea) of a live cat. Animals used in these procedures may suffer tracheal bruising, bleeding, scarring, and severe pain, and they risk death. Documents obtained by PCRM through the Virginia Public Records Act and appended to this request show a history of the harm caused by this training at UVA: Callie, a female calico cat, suffered from a broken canine tooth caused by blunt trauma. Fiddle, a male calico, also suffered from a broken canine tooth as a result of this training. Fiddle suffered an unusually hyperactive recovery from a difficult anesthetic episode that lasted for three days. Toby, a male cat, suffered from several eye infections that resulted in eye surgery. Cats used in this training have plastic tubes forced down their throats in high numbers per training session. Fiddle has suffered through this as many as 22 times in one training session. Alley, a female calico, suffered through as many as 19 intubation attempts during one session. Cats used in this training are often used numerous times per year for up to seven years or longer, enduring dozens of anesthesias and hundreds of intubations Cats are routinely transported from Charlottesville to other parts of Virginia for training of individuals with no or limited medical knowledge or skills.

UVAs use of cats in this manner directly violates Virginias cruelty statute, which criminalizes conduct that willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain upon an animal. Va. Code Ann. 3.2-

6570(A). Although inhumane is not defined within this statue, the statue does define humane as any action taken in consideration of and with the intent to provide for the animals health and well-being. Va. Code Ann. 3.2-6500. With the availability of validated human-based medical simulators, designed for the purpose of teaching endotracheal intubation of low birth weight premature newborns, it is clear that UVA has not taken action to provide for the health and wellbeing of the cats used in this training, thus making this use of animals inhumane. Additionally, no statutory exemption allows UVA to harm animals in this manner. The cruelty statute exempts from coverage bona fide scientific or medical experimentation. Va. Code Ann. 3.2-6570(A). However, UVAs use of cats for this purpose does not qualify as either bona fide or experimentation. This use of animals cannot qualify as bona fide because superior nonanimal alternatives, including the Gaumard Premie HAL and PREMIE Blue simulatorsboth designed to mimic a low birth weight premature newborn with anatomically correct airway, including tongue, vocal cords, and tracheaand METIs BabySim simulator provide superior training for pediatrics residents. As part of its state-of-the-art simulation center, UVA owns the BabySim simulator; yet it has intentionally chosen a training method that willfully inflicts injury and pain upon cats. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines experimentation as to try out a new procedure, idea, or activity.1 UVAs pediatrics residency program does not involve new procedures, ideas, or activities. Instead, UVAs pediatrics residency program simply repeats, without variation, longestablished fixed procedures that yield no new discoveries. As a result, UVAs pediatrics residency training does not qualify as scientific or medical experimentation. Furthermore, PCRMs ongoing survey shows that UVA is one of only 11 U.S. pediatrics residency programs that use live animals in their curricula. Instead, 94 percent of programs surveyed174 of 185use nonanimal models.2 Eastern Virginia Medical School, Inova

Fairfax Hospital and Hospital for Children, and Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond all use exclusively nonanimal methods.
We believe that the University of Virginia should be held criminally liable for its cruelty to animals and request that you investigate the live animal component of its pediatrics residency curriculum as soon as possible. We thank you for your time and are happy to provide whatever assistance you may need. Sincerely,

John Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C. Director of Academic Affairs

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2011), http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ experimentation?show= 0&t=1322585046 (last accessed November 29, 2011)
1 2

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Animal Use for the Teaching of Endotracheal Intubation in Pediatrics Residency Programs in the United States: An Ongoing Survey (2011), http://pcrm.org/resch/pediatrics/pediatricssurvey.html (last November 29, 2011).