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National Defense: an exercise in cruelty?

Although the art of warfare has changed over time, the U.S. military still hurts animals as part of their combat trauma training program. The idea is to create combat injuries so that medics-in-training can fix them. This exercise in cruelty must be stopped.

The Department of Defense is currently doing a self-evaluation of this training, opening the door for a clear protocol to end use of live animals to train infantry, medics and physicians. The military must consistently adopt modern medical training regimes rather than utilize cruel and ineffective techniques. There is absolutely no reason for this inhumane treatment of animals, or to force our soldiers to perform such heartless actions under the guise of national security. Better methods exist to ensure our wounded troops get the treatment they need, such as the Department of Defense Combat Trauma Patient Simulator, the Air Force Expeditionary Medical Skills Institute’s Center of Trauma and Readiness Skills, the Naval Trauma Training Center, as well as the use of human cadavers, medical mannequins, and training in trauma hospitals. In fact, the Department of Defense has an animal welfare regulation that requires the use of non-animal methods when they are available.

At Farm Sanctuary we provide care and refuge for many goats and pigs, like Joan van Ark and her porcine friends who were used as “teaching tools” at a veterinary school, and Zoop, the goat with a prosthetic leg. We know firsthand the emotional trauma they go through when subjected to cruelty and the fulfilling lives they can lead when treated with compassion. That is why we need you to take action today.

You Can Help!

Please urge your U.S. Representative to take action on your behalf and ask S. Ward Casscells, M.D., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, to end the use of animals in combat trauma training.

Click here to send a letter now.