Martin Poole/Thinkstock
DCL
That's right, cats are used in medical experiments: intubation procedures, specifically, where hard plastic tubes are forced down cats' windpipes. Ferrets, too.
It's part of a course in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and was once practiced by many hospitals or universities but is now frowned upon by the American Heart Association.
At least one hospital, however, the St. Louis Children's Hospital, continues to teach intubation procedures by forcing tubes down cats' and ferrets' throats, which can result in bleeding, swelling, collapsed lungs, scarring of throat tissue—and death.
Another procedure involves forcing air into cats' chest cavities, and course participants practice inserting a needle to remove the excess air.
PETA is encouraging people to contact St. Louis Children's Hospital officials to denounce this practice, which according to PETA is not practiced elsewhere:
PETA has surveyed hundreds of PALS facilities across the country, and nearly every one of them uses non-animal methods for intubation training. Research shows that in addition to saving animals, these simulation methods better prepare medical professionals to treat seriously ill or injured children because they more accurately replicate human anatomy and allow people to practice these skills repeatedly.
Cats aren't the only animals, of course, to be used for research, though they may be some of the more surprising subjects. Beagles and other dogs are used, too—learn more about animal testing, and efforts to stop it, from the New England Anti-vivisection Society and at StopAnimalTests.com.
