U.S. Military Continues to Wound Live Animals to Train Troops

The practice of using live goats during military training exercise continues despite public opposition. ©istock.com

The U.S. military has a long history of injuring live animals like goats, dogs and pigs while training soldiers, despite attempts to keep the practice out of the spotlight. In September 2004, The HSUS rebuked the Army when it became public that goats were being used to train soldiers stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado.

Now, the issue has reared its ugly head again. According to an Aug. 3 article in the San Antonio Express-News, the practice of intentionally wounding live goats and then euthanizing them has been part of Army training exercises at Fort Sam Houston in Houston, Texas for decades and still continues today.

During these exercises, healthy goats are anesthetized and repeatedly wounded. Then treatments are demonstrated to soldiers training to react to emergency situations. After the exercises, the goats are euthanized. Examples of injuries inflicted on the goats include amputating limbs, breaking bones, and making deep incisions.

Later that month, it was leaked to the press that military personnel at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii had shot live pigs using high-powered rifles during a training session for soldiers. Inga Gibson, HSUS state director for Hawaii, immediately sought to engage the commanding officer in constructive dialogue to encourage use of alternative methods. It was also learned that the pigs had endured long-distance shipment from a research supplier in Washington state so that they could be used in the training session.

The Army is not the only branch of the military conducting these kinds of inhumane training exercises. In November 2006, public outcry erupted when The New York Times published a soldier's graphic description of a live pig being brutally wounded during a Navy training exercise.

Consider the Alternatives

In an ongoing effort to stop these inhumane and unnecessary practices, The HSUS and other animal protection groups have repeatedly pressured the military to replace live animals with alternatives. Alternatives include using sophisticated mannequins designed to replicate a living human body, gaining hands-on experience at an emergency trauma center in a major metropolitan area, and working with human cadavers.

"Our constituents find the intentional wounding of these animals to be offensive" said Martin Stephens, Ph.D., HSUS vice president for animal research issues. "If the military believes the alternatives are inadequate, they need to state where these methods fall short and then improve them."