Madison, Wis.— Today, the Wisconsin State Senate Committee on Health will hold a hearing on Senate Bill 851, legislation aimed at restricting the use of live animals in healthcare provider training. Introduced by Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Fox Crossing), the bill follows reports that certain surgery programs continue to use live pigs for training, despite a broad industry shift toward human-based methods.
“With all of the advancements in medical surgical training, the industry has turned away from using live animals. It’s time Wisconsin catches up,” said Sen. Cabral-Guevara, a nurse practitioner. “I introduced this bill to ensure that Wisconsin’s patients are receiving care from doctors trained on human anatomy using 21st-century methods.”
Senate Bill 851 would prohibit medical training programs from using live animals when equivalent, human-relevant methods—such as cadavers or high-fidelity simulators—are available.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit endorsing the bill, notes that 80% of surveyed general surgery residency programs in the U.S. and Canada have already phased out animal use. In the region, institutions such as the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the Mayo Clinic already largely utilize non-animal training exclusively.
