Case Western Reserve University has announced it will stop using live dogs, cats and ferrets for teaching purposes. The animals were used to teach surgeries and other medical techniques to 4th year medical students. 

The school has said it will, however, continue to use pigs in a course on "minimally invasive surgeries" at least until the next academic year.  

Case Western is only one of 10 medical schools that still uses live animals for teaching. The advent of simulated patients and other techniques has eliminated any argument use of live animals is necessary for teaching medical students. 

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine pushed Case Western to make these changes and has said there is no reason to continue to use live pigs for medical training.   

For more on this issue, visit www.pcrm.org  For more on use of live animals for medical training, click here to visit Animal Law Coalition's Animal Research site.