University of Tennessee Health Science Center Bans Live Animal Testing

Following a PETA campaign lasting over 17 months, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, which oversees the College of Medicine, formally bans the use of live animals in surgical and emergency medical residency training programs on its Chattanooga campus. The campaign exposed the university’s cruel practice of using live pigs as stand-ins for bleeding and critically injured humans during emergency medical training and killing these animals afterward. Additionally, after discussions with PETA in 2022, the school’s hospital partner, Erlanger Health System, implements a new policy banning its staff and emergency medevac provider, LIFE FORCE, from participating in live-animal medical training drills.