PCRM "research expert" denounces use of animals in any medical research as "a fraud" - but he and his organization praise the lifesaving Heimlich maneuver and "Heimlich operation," both developed using dogs

From today's South End, the student newspaper of Wayne State University in Detroit:

Dr. John Pippin, director of academic affairs for PCRM (the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), said the group’s interest is scientifically and medically based.

...PCRM is opposed to and seeks to ban the use of animals in medical research in all forms, Pippin said, because such research is “a fraud.”

From A Critical Look at Animal Experimentation by John J. Pippin MD FACC et al, published in 2006 by the Medical Research Modernization Committee:

"Relied exclusively on human clinical investigation"?

PCRM's research expert apparently didn't do his research.

From Pop Goes the Cafe Coronary by Henry J. Heimlich MD, Emergency Medicine, June 1974, the first published article about what came to be called "the Heimlich maneuver":

The procedure is adapted from experimental work with four 38-pound beagles...After being given an intravenous anesthetic, each dog was "strangled" with a size 32 cuffed endotracheal tube inserted into the larynx and capped. After the cuff was distended to create total obstruction of the trachea, the animal went into immediate respiratory distress as evidenced by spasmodic, paradoxical respiratory movement of the chest and diaphragm. At this point, with a sudden thrust, I pressed my hand deeply and firmly into the abdomen of the animal a short distance below the rib cage, thereby pushing upward on the disphragm. The endotracheal tube popped out of the trachea and, after several labored respirations, the animal began to breath normally.

...We repeated the experiment more than 20 times on each animal with the same excellent results When a bolus of raw hamburger was substituted for the endotracheal tube, it, too, was ejected by the same procedure, always after one or two compressions.

From The Use of a Gastric Tube to Replace of By-pass the Esophagus by Henry J. Heimlich MD and James M. Winfield MD, Surgery, April 1955:

Eight adult mongrel dogs were used...The dogs were given nothing by mouth for twenty-four hours before operation....The abdomen and chest were shaved.

...Dog No. 1 (Operation Dec. 7, 1953). - This operation was performed through separate abdominal and chest incisions. Ten centimeters of esophagus was resected and the gastric tube brought through the esophageal hiatus. The dog survived three weeks on gradually increasing amounts of food. It was eating adequate amounts of soft solids by the end of the second week. On Dec. 26, 1953, it was noted to have a white froth around the mouth. On Dec. 28, 1953, it was found dead in its cage.

...Dog No. 2 (Operation Jan. 11, 1954). - The possibility of the gastric tube surviving nourished only by its intrinsic blood supply was considered. The operation was performed with ligation of the left gastroepiploic vessels and no splenectomy. The animal gradually deteriorated and died on Jan. 14, 1954, three days postoperatively. 

...Dog No. 3 (Operation Jan. 18, 1954). - The esophagus was divided and not resected. Its lower end was closed...For two days the animal vomited gastric juice. It appeared well on the third day. On the fourth day postoperatively, small amounts of fluids were taken. Approximately 200 c.c. was swallowed without difficulty, but vomiting occurred in thirty minutes. On the fifth day it was found dead.

...Dog No. 4 (Operation Jan. 25; 1954). - The dog died on the operating table during the procedure.

Dog No. 5...The dog did well for two days, taking fluids on the second day. On the third day it had a convulsion and died. 

...Dog. No. 8 (Operation March 4, 1954). - The procedure, as described in the text, was performed through separate abdominal and chest incisions....(Two months after the operation) the animal was obviously healthy and eating as a normal dog. It was therefore sacrificed.

From April 7, 2005 press release, National Medical Group Creates Award In Honor of Henry Heimlich,

“Dr. Henry Heimlich’s vision and incredible creativity are responsible for medical advances that have saved tens of thousands of lives,” said PCRM president and founder Neal Barnard, M.D. “He is the embodiment of innovation, compassion, and getting the job done. His work has inspired researchers and medical students to break convention, think creatively, and focus on what counts: saving lives.”

PCRM's Henry J. Heimlich Award for Innovative Medicine