PETA Up In Arms Over Army Shooting Pigs

Military Says Exercise Is Necessary To Teach Soldiers How To Treat Battlefield Injuries

(AP)  The U.S. Army is moving forward with plans to shoot live pigs and treat their gunshot wounds in a medical trauma exercise Friday for soldiers headed to Iraq.

The Army says it's critical to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated.

Maj. Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said the training is being conducted under a U.S. Department of Agriculture license and the careful supervision of veterinarians and a military Animal Care and Use Committee.

"It's to teach Army personnel how to manage critically injured patients within the first few hours of their injury," Cheng said.

The soldiers are learning emergency lifesaving skills needed on the battlefield when there are no medics, doctors or facility nearby, he said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, however, said there are more advanced and humane options available, including high-tech human simulators. In a letter, PETA urged the Army to end all use of animals, "as the overwhelming majority of North American medical schools have already done."

"Shooting and maiming pigs is outdated as Civil War rifles," said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department.

The group demanded the exercise be halted after it was notified by a "distraught" soldier from the unit, who disclosed a plan to shoot the animals with M4 carbines and M16 rifles.

"There's absolutely no reason why they have to shoot live pigs," PETA spokeswoman Holly Beal said.

The bloody exercise, she said, is difficult for soldiers because they sometimes associate the animals with their own pet dogs.

Cheng said the exercise is conducted in a controlled environment with the pigs anesthetized the entire time. He had "no doubt whatsoever" in the effectiveness of the instruction, which he called the best option available at the base.

"Those alternative methods just can't replicate what the troops are going to face when we use live-tissue training," he said. "What we're doing is unique to what the soldiers are going to actually experience."

Cheng didn't have details about the number of pigs, how they were acquired or the weapons involved in the training.

The soldiers being trained are with the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, which is deploying to Iraq this year.

"We understand (PETA's) concerns and point of view. At the same, the Army is committed to providing the soldiers with the best training possible," Cheng said.

Disappointed at the Army's decision, PETA on Thursday instructed its 2 million members to inundate the Army with calls and e-mails.

"We're hoping at the 11th hour here that we can have this stopped. We have to hang on to hope," Beal said.

PETA believes the U.S. military has conducted similar training at other bases using pigs and goats.

[wardoglrs]

PETA your the pigs that should be shot...lol

[cfin5]

I find it sad we are still using innocent animals in experiemtnal procedures. We need to remember everything in this universe including animals are manifestations of God Life (energy) and all manifestations of Life are sacred. Experimentation on animals is a blunt statement of the need of humanity to evovle out of the animal-like state of consciousness....

Posted by Richetti at 04:37 PM : Jul 20, 2008---- So your against the murder of unborn little boys and girls too right?

[whiskyrocker]

PETA is a joke.

[richetti]

I find it sad we are still using innocent animals in experiemtnal procedures. We need to remember everything in this universe including animals are manifestations of God Life (energy) and all manifestations of Life are sacred. Experimentation on animals is a blunt statement of the need of humanity to evovle out of the animal-like state of consciousness....

[soloman6]

Don''t worry clgl_fubar, I am not a PETA fan but I don''t eat meat or drink animal milk because they are full of hormones and antibiotics. Plus all of my house appliances are for-green, we are installing a solar panel on our roof top as we speak now. How about you? preach what you believe!

[u-r-right]

Instead of using pigs, they should switch to using PETA staff.

[tootall10142]

SYMPATHY CAN BE FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY BETWEEN SH---T AND SYPHILLIS.

[tootall10142]

I would like to bid on the removal of the dead pigs.i need some ribs things to give to the homeless and hungry who wont buy flood or fire insurance but instead choose to eat at mcdonalds or k.f.c.untill the fire wipes them out and they sat crying and soobing with thier home security hanging over thier belt line.

[whiskyrocker]

A pig dies so a human can live. PETA see''s it just the opposite.They would rather a human die than a pig.

[patriot12436]

armydoc4
That information should have been included in the written article, it wasn''t. News papers always try to go for shock value. I still have sympathy for the animals but like i said earlier if i have to choose between the animals and the pigs i will choose for the people. I also appreciate what your job entails. I have seen many patients at Ft Sam Houston. They wouldn''t be there if we didn''t have people like you. Thank You. You did bring many troops home.

[greghad]

FYI- I never saw the animals come out of anesthesia in eight-plus hours, and there were two veterinarians providing he anesthesia during the training.

[soloman6]

It doesn''t mean that the pigs can''t for themselves and the rest of us would keep quiet.

[soloman6]

Get the murderers, child killkers, child molesters for target shooting not the poor pigs. The congress and federal judges are afraid of how painful these inmates dies, did they ever think about the pain and suffering of the victims and their families???

It is enough, people kill animals for food and now this. Human are worst than animals!

[cfin5]

For the record, I''''m democrat, but against abortion

Posted by nrgmizer at 11:45 AM : Jul 19, 2008---- Excellent! I''d shake your hand if I could friend. You have a wonderful day!

[cfin5]

Liberal policies treat an unborn child worse. They can be murdered without cause, made to suffer the pain of their own demise WITHOUT ANESTHESIA,.....and then say "might as well use the pieces-parts for something good".....I would rather die than use a part from a murdered little boy or girl,....sickos. I''ll have no abortion advocating lectures from two legged "intellectuals" whose hearts walks on four,....let alone worry about their double standard "feewings" for a hog.

[patriot12436]

Nowhere in this article did it say the pigs would be given drugs to prevent them feeling pain. Yes it is just a pig, but it is one of Gods creatures. I do not like to see anyone or anything suffer.

[patriot12436]

Why not hire the medics who served in Vietnam and the first Iraq war to help train. They have been there and i think their experience would be priceless.

[patriot12436]

Armydoc4
I respect what you do and your opinion. I was not trained as a medic but i did what i had to in the field when necessary to save my people. It wasn''t pretty, but after the war i found in most situations, most people panic and do not react. I have the ability to react and save lives. I became anti war after Vietnam. I think we can find a better ay to solve problems usually than war. I now have compassion for animals as much as people. They also feel th pain. Because they are animals is it right to make them suffer ? I do not think so. Our medics were trained in other ways before this idea came along, i think we can find better methods of training. I like the idea of child molestors and those prisoners sentenced to death. I have no compassion for people who have done what they have.

[whiskyrocker]

Die PIG----Die

[colonieny]

We need to do anything and everything to support our troops, all the way.
This is only a nut case i ssue.