{"id":646746,"date":"2025-12-21T18:18:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T18:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/646746\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T18:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T18:18:15","slug":"us-military-to-stop-shooting-live-animals-to-train-medics-for-the-battlefield-us-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/646746\/","title":{"rendered":"US military to stop shooting live animals to train medics for the battlefield | US military"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US military<\/a> will stop its practice of shooting pigs and goats to help prepare medics for treating wounded troops in a combat zone, ending an exercise made obsolete by simulators that mimic battlefield injuries.<\/p>\n

The prohibition on \u201clive fire\u201d training that includes animals is part of this year\u2019s annual defense bill<\/a>, although other uses of animals for wartime training will continue. The ban was championed by Vern Buchanan, a Republican congressman from Florida who often focuses on animal rights issues.<\/p>\n

Buchanan called the change \u201ca major step forward in reducing unnecessary suffering in military practices\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith today\u2019s advanced simulation technology, we can prepare our medics for the battlefield while reducing harm to animals,\u201d he said in a statement to the Associated Press. \u201cAs Co-Chair of the Animal Protection Caucus, I\u2019m proud to continue leading efforts to end outdated and inhumane practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buchanan\u2019s office said the defense department will continue to allow training that involves stabbing, burning and using blunt instruments on animals, while also allowing \u201cweapon wounding\u201d, which is when the military tests weapons on animals. Animal rights groups say the animals are supposed to be anesthetized during such training and testing.<\/p>\n

The Defense Health Agency, which oversees the training, said in a statement on Friday that the defense department \u201cremains committed to replacement of animal models without compromising the quality of medical training\u201d.<\/p>\n

The agency cited the establishment of its defense medical modeling and simulation office as a testament to those efforts, which include \u201crealistic training scenarios to ensure medical providers are well-prepared to care for the combat-wounded\u201d.<\/p>\n

Groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals<\/a> declared victory, saying the change will spare the lives of thousands of animals each year and \u201cmarks a historic shift toward state-of-the-art, human-relevant simulation technology\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how often the military uses animals for training. Previous defense bills and other pieces of legislation have sought to reduce their use for trauma training, according to a 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office<\/a> (GAO), an independent agency that serves Congress.<\/p>\n

The 2013 defense bill required the Pentagon to submit a report that outlined a strategy for transitioning to human-based training methods, the GAO said. A 2018 statute required the secretary of defense to ensure the military used simulation technology \u201cto the maximum extent practicable\u201d or unless use of animals was deemed necessary by the medical chain of command.<\/p>\n

The GAO report stated the animals are placed under anesthesia and then euthanized.<\/p>\n

\u201cLive animals such as pigs and goats are used in trauma training because their organs and tissues are similar to humans, they have biological variation that can complicate treatment and provide opportunities to control medical conditions,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n

But groups such as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine say anesthetized pigs and goats do little to prepare medics or corpsmen for treating wounded service members. They said the advent of \u201ccut suits\u201d that are worn by people are much better at mimicking an injured human who is moaning and writhing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big argument is this is a living, breathing thing that they have to take care of and there\u2019s this level of realism,\u201d said Erin Griffith, a retired navy doctor and member of the physicians committee. \u201cBut replicating what it\u2019s like when their buddy is shot and bleeding and awake is very different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US military will stop its practice of shooting pigs and goats to help prepare medics for treating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-646746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115758937111982245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}