Army shooting live pigs for medical training


nativetexan

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Irregardless what PETA says, and this "distraught soldier" who reported the Army to PETA, I think this is a good idea. The closer to real you can get, the better off wounded troops are. I say instead of pigs, we use terrorists or PETA members themselves. But, I guess they have a right to their opinion no matter how misguided.

Army to Shoot Live Pigs to Save Wounded Soldiers' Lives

HONOLULU — The Army on Friday was holding an exercise involving shooting live pigs and treating the gunshot wounds in training it says is critical to saving soldiers' lives but which has sparked outcry from animal-rights activists.

The training, held at Schofield Barracks for Iraq-bound troops, 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, said Maj. Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division.

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

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

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"Shooting and maiming pigs is [as] outdated as Civil War rifles," said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department.

The Norfolk, Va.-based 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 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 using pigs and goats at other bases.

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I have to say that from experience....There is nothing more teaching than experience. I guess it seems a little morbid, but if one of the PETA members children died from a wound that could have been treated by a soldier who had "LIVE" training instead of simulated training would they feel the same. Somewhere in that 2 million member group there have got to be at least one set of parents that need to keep this under consideration.

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Just one more example of how out of touch with REALITY peta is. Did anyone see the interview with the young man who lost his arm to an alligator in the last week or so? He said that the alligators have really become a problem because peta has been buying up the hunting permits so they can't be hunted like they should. Don't know if what he said was true or not but it sure sounds like something peta would do.

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I have to say that from experience....There is nothing more teaching than experience. I guess it seems a little morbid, but if one of the PETA members children died from a wound that could have been treated by a soldier who had "LIVE" training instead of simulated training would they feel the same. Somewhere in that 2 million member group there have got to be at least one set of parents that need to keep this under consideration.

Excellent point

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This guy is spamming all over the board...Idiot. Ban 'em.

Anyway, let me get this straight... A soldier who will have no qualms about shooting people, was concerned that the Army was shooting pigs to train our troops for battlefield injuries?

Wow... is all I can say.

As far as peta goes and people who think animals have rights...they are the #1 Domestic terrorists in the United States.

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Who's banned? What did I miss?

I don't know, but if you need some brand named athletic wear I think I can point you in the right direction.:D

BTW I went to PETA's websight and used thier form letter to the army to commend them (the army) on thier use of animals for training, wished them luck and gave them the BBQ suggestion.

I'm a bad person. :D

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