Will NATO Say No to Live-Animal Trauma Training?

Posted by Dan on March 26, 2014 | Permalink

A promising development: the small handful of NATO countries (Canada, Denmark, Norway, the UK and the US) that continue to shoot, stab, mutilate and dismember live animals for archaic military training drills might be reconsidering their policies.

An initiative has been launched through NATO to evaluate simulation technology in order to replace the use of animals. As the NATO website says, the crude practice of live animal trauma training “has come under significant scrutiny … [and] will have to be severely curtailed if not completely eliminated”. That “scrutiny” includes vocal opposition from celebrities, PETA and our international affiliates, and thousands of our supporters have written to the governments of the countries in question. The campaign has already convinced Poland to end animal use, and we’re determined to get the UK and other NATO countries to follow suit. After all, 23 out of 28 NATO nations already refuse to use animals for military medical training, preferring humane, state-of-the-art simulators, which are recommended by experts.

Distressing photos that we recently obtained show live pigs being strung up, shot to pieces with AK-47s and sewn back together again. These atrocities occurred at a military training facility in Denmark attended by British soldiers. Such immoral and unnecessary violence against animals should not be happening in our armed forces – or anywhere.

Danish actor Brigitte Nielsen wrote to her government on PETA’s – and animals’ – behalf this week, urging the Minister of Defence to put a stop to animal-based trauma exercises. “I am a proud Dane, but like most people around the world, I was deeply shocked to learn that my country’s army still uses live animals in military training exercises”, she wrote. “Please stop making our noble military shoot, stab and mutilate animals in these exercises.”