Army to Shoot Live Pigs for Medical Drill

[defendandprotect]

IMO, this is a story we should pay attention to for a number of reasons: --

It again links violence against animals with eventual violence against humans ...

and it is once again patriarchy/military teaching violence.


Cattle blood is the closest to human blood ---

Pig blood, however, provides an essential clotting factor.

Animals are our sisters and brothers on the planet ---

In fact, some of the native Americans used to call us the "pig people" --

and they weren't referring to our manners--!




Army to Shoot Live Pigs for Medical Drill
By JAYMES SONG, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jul 18, 7:29 PM ET

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 Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated.

Despite opposition by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Army proceeded to shoot live pigs and treat their gunshot wounds in a medical trauma exercise Friday at Schofield Barracks for soldiers headed to Iraq.

Maj. Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said the training was conducted as scheduled 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.

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"Shooting and maiming pigs is outdated as Civil War rifles," said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department.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

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_on_re_us/army_pigs

[flvegan]

1. I heard this yesterday

and I can't help but think that there's an alternative to this cruel method.

[Occam Bandage]

2. I'd like to see the Army provide reports detailing why this is more effective than human simulators.

[Deja Q]

6. Because Windows 98 kept crashing; giving them the blue screen of death?

They really need to upgrade their systems...

[Mojorabbit]

8. As a retired nurse

I can say that doing a procedure on a dummy and doing a procedure on a live being are two totally different experiences. No comparison at all.

[defendandprotect]

11. And you would support this then . . . ?

[Avalux]

3. They've been using goats/sheep for years; nothing new.

I participated in a PETA protest at Ft. Sam Houston 20 years ago over this very same thing.

[Warpy]

4. They just made the switch from anesthetized dogs

which is what they practiced on for years for trauma surgeries.

While I'm grateful for the skills they develop both for humans and animals, I wish there were another way.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Rove says thanks for the tip, but he doesn't visit army bases anyway.

[Deja Q]

7. At least they stopped skeet shooting using frogs instead of those little disc things.

[izquierdista]

9. Soldiers are learning

And being conditioned, too. Ready to sink into the depths of depravity when it suits the Homeland.

Some soldiers from an earlier time who would learn from experiments on the living.

[aikoaiko]

10. The practice sounds reasonable to train wartime military surgeons.

:shrug:

[Edweird]

12. I'm not thrilled about 'wilbur' being shot. The skills they are learning, however ARE critical.

If you have any relatives in the military you would be grateful for these soldiers skills. The last thing you need is someone 'freezing up' and unable to treat a real battlefield wound. No simulator or dummy can prepare you for that. I feel bad for the pig, but animals are used for medical training all over.