Hisar medical college ends animal testing

We have stopped using rabbits for testing which were earlier being used to train undergraduate medical students at the institute, says director and principal Dr Gopal Singal of Maharaja Agrasen Medical College at Hisar’s Agroha

Maharaja Agrasen Medical College at Hisar’s Agroha has ended the practice of using rabbits to train its undergraduate students after one of them alerted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) India – an animal rights organisation.

College’s principal, however, says the institution was not using any animal for experiments, even for demonstration, in the undergraduate courses. (HT FILE PHOTO)

College director and principal Dr Gopal Singal said, “Many activities had already been suspended in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. But, after a communication with Peta, we have stopped using rabbits for testing which were earlier being used to train undergraduate medical students at the institute.”

He said the institution was not using any animal for experiments, even for demonstration, in the undergraduate courses. According to a press release of Peta, in its letter to the college, it pointed out that the use of rabbits, who were denied food for several days at a time and were being held in crowded cages, appeared to violate not only the Medical Council of India’s 2014 notification and the Indian government’s 2012 directive to replace animal dissection with modern, non-animal teaching methods at the undergraduate level, but also the regulations established by the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals on the use of animals in experiments.

In the release, Peta India research associate Dr Ankita Pandey said, “We are urging all medical colleges to take note of this incident and keep animal experiments and dissection out of the classroom and instead use superior non-animal teaching methods.”