WSU dean refutes student adversaries

Pullman, Wash.-As two Washington State University (WSU) students threaten to sue the veterinary college, alleging it fails to provide curricular alternatives to animal use, one top official unleashes a mass-circulated letter to fight back.

At presstime, a lawsuit had yet to be filed against the college, butDean Warwick Bayly, DVM, already is downplaying the threats. In his responseto inquiries about the controversy, Bayly says WSU is a leader in alternativeteaching activities and writes, "Currently there is inaccurate andincomplete information circulating we welcome the opportunity to addressthese concerns."

Tension mounts

The "concerns" involve Hannah Mueller and Brad White, two second-yearveterinary students heading up complaints and talking to their school'slocal press.

While neither could be reached for comment, Mueller has publicly statedshe's working with a lawyer to sue WSU for refusing to offer alternativesto labs she's opposed to taking. The college, she says, is violating herFirst Amendment rights.

Bayly responds, saying the college has received no legal notices anddoes offer options, such as alternative cadavers, which are animals thathave died as a result of injury or illness. Also employed in the college'ssurgery education are psychomotor skills exercises, models, computer simulatorsand advanced audiovisual resources.

"I'm not sure what these students are talking about, but neitherof them have ever contacted me with their concerns," Bayly tells DVMNewsmagazine. "As far as I can tell, they're unfounded."

Old-school controversy

This isn't the college's first brush with activists. In August 1991,the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) claimed responsibility for breaking intoBustad Hall, a veterinary research facility across from the teaching hospital.The vandals damaged documents and facility fixtures and released a mink,mice and several coyotes from their cages.

The group, according to its Web site, struck again in late 1999, raidingthe WSU Poultry Research Labs located off campus. Vandals smashed a windowto break in but didn't find any animals. Instead, they destroyed computersand laboratory equipment.

Bayly confirms the destruction, but says it has little to do with thecollege's students. In fact, he says, students rarely visit the poultrylab, which is only used for research.

Instead, the dean points out that the College of Veterinary Medicineis internationally recognized for its humane efforts in education and hasbeen featured in articles published by the Association of Veterinariansfor Animal Rights.

"Explicit in our mission are the goals of promoting animal healthand alleviating animal suffering," Bayly writes in his letter's close." As a result, we have dramatically reduced both the number of animalsand the number of potentially painful procedures used in our curriculum." M