The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=9889710

quote:

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STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - The wife of Oklahoma State University alumnus and billionaire T. Boone Pickens wants a $5 million donation redirected from the veterinary school because of how animals are used in teaching and research.

Madeleine Pickens told The Daily O'Collegian she made the decision after a student in the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences informed her of what she described as "barbaric" practices.

Pickens says she's concerned that animals routinely have numerous surgeries performed on them and have bones broken so that students can then repair the damage.

Pickens told the student newspaper she planned to send a letter to OSU Dean of Veterinary Medicine Michael Lorenz today. Lorenz declined the newspaper's request for comment.

A spokesman for the university says the school evaluates its use of animals and vet teaching every year.

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I thought this was an interesting story.  While I'm not a PETA member, I'm not particularly interested in animal abuse.  On the other hand, how exactly do you teach next generation Veterinarians without a large quantity of damaged/ill animals.  It's a quandary!

Tulsa World (http://"http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=19&articleid=20090223_11_0_Madele726716")

In the comments section, there is a student from OSU (ashley1234osu) describing how the procedures work. Ashley's comments sounds more likely than Mrs. Pickens' assertion: "Right now, when they buy these dogs, they bring them in, and they do a surgery, put them to sleep, do the surgery, wake them up, next day, put them to sleep again, maybe take out a kidney, wake them up again, put them to sleep again, maybe break a leg, fix it, wake them up again and then they kill them."

I honestly don't know what the alternative would be.  

Vet-Med is not like human-based medicine in the sense that there aren't huge hospitals with tons of surgeries that can accommodate large numbers of students.  And, I would assume that Surgeons, working on humans, have to log an incredible number of hours behind the knife before they are allowed to be Surgeons.

It's certainly a horrible thought, that OSU-Vet would do that.  I'm not sure what the alternative is.