In a historic move on October 13, 2026, Washington State University’s (WSU) College of Veterinary Medicine announced that, after decades of pressure from students and animal advocates, it is ending its highly controversial large animal surgery course, in which healthy horses and goats were killed as part of “terminal labs.” 

Terminal labs in veterinary education are training exercises in which animals, many of them perfectly healthy, are killed before, during, or after being used to teach students medical procedures and surgical techniques. The animals killed in these courses can include horses, pigs, cows, goats, chickens, and even companion animals. These animals are treated as disposable teaching tools, their lives cut short not because they are sick or suffering, but because they are viewed simply as objects. 

Some veterinary schools obtain healthy dogs and cats from animal shelters for students to practice procedures on before the animals are killed and discarded. This practice, known as pound seizure, means that animals who have already been let down by humans and left waiting for a home can instead meet a terrifying, painful end simply because they were unlucky enough to be in a shelter. Other programs accept animals as “donations” from people who may not fully understand what will happen to their former pets or livestock after they relinquish them.

In 2025, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine released a paper shedding light on this grim topic, revealing that hundreds of courses across the United States and Canada include these kinds of terminal training exercises. At one school, chickens were reportedly purchased so that students could break their necks while the birds were fully conscious.

While this type of training may be presented as a necessary evil for preparing future veterinarians to become skilled surgeons, humane and effective alternatives already exist. Highly ranked veterinary schools that reject these practices have demonstrated that students can develop their surgical skills using simulators, models, ethically sourced cadavers from animals who have already died or were euthanized for medical reasons, and supervised clinical training with animals who actually need care. Through partnerships with animal shelters and community programs serving people with limited access to veterinary services, students can gain hands-on experience performing procedures under the guidance of experienced veterinarians while helping animals and local communities.

WSU’s recent decision is proof that veterinary education can move beyond terminal labs without abandoning hands-on surgical training. The university has announced plans to expand its community-based large animal clinical services, providing students with practical experience while helping improve access to veterinary care. This compassionate approach should be the standard, not the outlier, in veterinary education.

It is time for every veterinary school to leave these cruel and outdated practices in the past.

The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) already recommends that schools actively seek alternatives to terminal procedures and avoid euthanizing animals solely for educational purposes, but recommendations alone have not been enough to end these practices. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Council on Education (COE), which accredits veterinary programs, has the power to turn this guidance into a requirement by prohibiting terminal labs, ending this cruelty for good and ensuring that no healthy animal has to die for a student to learn how to save lives.

Take Action Now

Please join Species Unite in calling on the AVMA Council on Education to update its standards to ban terminal labs and withhold accreditation from any school that continues them, so that the compassionate people who dedicate their lives to caring for animals are never again forced to kill healthy ones in order to learn.