He's a straight talkin' PETA with a letter for the U of M...

Man is the village animal, united by the glue of our loathsome qualities
- "The Villagers", 1982

Iggy Pop has joined forces with PETA against animal testing at the University of Michigan. It's not as unusual a partnership as you might think. Iggy likes theatrics. He likes to get naked. (Don't click that link unless you actually want to see Iggy Pop nude.) And despite all the drugs he put into his body in the Stooges days, he's actually a health nut who has been on a strict macrobiotic diet for over 40 years.

This particular appeal is close to home, as well. Iggy (once known as James Osterberg) grew up in U Michigan's backyard of Ann Arbor, and even attended classes in Anthropology for a term before dropping out to make rock and roll history.

Ig writes:

"Mary Sue Coleman, President
University of Michigan                                                                                   
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340

Dear Dr. Coleman,

As a former University of Michigan student, I was disappointed to learn from my friends at PETA that cats and pigs continue to be abused and killed in U-M’s survival flight course even though the same skills are taught using more effective non-animal methods in other medical training courses on campus.

It’s common sense that cutting apart pigs and maiming cats isn’t the best way to train people to treat humans. Just last year, U-M announced that it was replacing the animal labs in a trauma training course—one that covers the same procedures for which pigs are still being mutilated and killed in the school’s survival flight course—with a modern simulator. 

U-M should not be harming animals when better alternatives are available and already in use on campus. Judging by The Michigan Daily’s recent editorial in favor of replacing these archaic animal labs, the student body agrees. 

Please make the switch to non-animal training methods for U-M’s survival flight course.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely, Iggy Pop"

While I am not a big fan of PETA in general, I am a huge Iggy Pop fan. So I'm happy his collaboration with PETA was a cause I can get behind. There are more humane alternatives to animal testing — especially in education.