By Nick Engelfried
The practice of subjecting live animals to tortuous surgeries and other medical procedures was once common practice in the U.S. medical establishment. Pigs, goats, and other helpless animals endured agonizing pain as doctors practiced operations they would later perform on human patients. Thankfully, as technologies have advanced and public concern about animal welfare increases, live animals used for training have largely been replaced by manikins and simulators that more accurately depict the human body. However, there is at least one major institution that still commonly uses animals in medical training: the U.S. Department of Defense.

The idea that performing surgeries on animals is a good way to train doctors goes back to outdated ideas about how to study anatomy. In fact, the tradition of dissecting animals to understand the human body was practiced in ancient times, when laws and cultural norms prohibited dissecting human corpses. Today, the medical establishment has many more humane alternatives for training practitioners, from human cadavers to advanced digital simulators. However, the practice of using animals to teach human anatomy persists.

Animals used in Department of Defense training exercises endure a level of pain and torture that is difficult to fully comprehend. Videos from undercover investigations appear to show military trainees shooting and stabbing live animals to simulate injuries sustained on the battlefield, and even using tree trimmers to cut limbs off living goats. For some exercises, animals may be cut open and have their organs taken out while still alive. While anesthetics are supposed to be used on the victims, investigators have cited video footage that appears to show the creatures writhing or moaning in pain.

Part of the official justification for these horrific experiments is that working with live subjects simulates conditions in a war zone where medics may be performing surgeries in the field on soldiers injured in battle. Such conditions are, of course, highly challenging and require that doctors be able to operate on living tissues in a chaotic environment. However, there are proven ways to train medics for these conditions without subjecting animals to torture. What’s more, these methods are likely to actually be more effective at preparing military doctors for combat.

Some of the strongest calls for change have come from people who are more deeply familiar with military medicine than almost anyone else. In a commentary piece recently published by MedCentral, retired Navy physician Commander Erin Griffith argues that using animals in training is not just inhumane, but fails to provide doctors with experience that serves them well under battlefield conditions.

“Early in my career, I was required to perform emergency procedures on live pigs and goats,” Griffith says in the commentary. “I left this procedural training on animals with shaken confidence, doubtful that I would be able to translate the very different anatomy of a pig or goat to a wounded fellow service member.”

Obviously, there are countless anatomical differences between a pig or goat and a human being, and operating on another species does not adequately prepare medics to attend to wounded soldiers. Partly in recognition of this reality, the Defense Department has made strides toward phasing out animal-based training over the last decade and a half. In 2013, the Army Medical Office announced it would ban using live animals to train nonmedical personnel, a move praised as a step in the right direction by animal rights groups like PETA.

Despite this, animals continue to be killed and tortured at certain military medic training facilities. Unfortunately, as these practices come under increased scrutiny, the Defense Department has seemingly attempted to avoid criticism by refusing to divulge key details about its practices. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which represents approximately 17,000 medical professionals concerned about animal welfare, recently sued the Defense Department for refusing to make public its policies at four medical training facilities suspected of engaging in cruel and outdated practices.

Because of Department of Defense secrecy, it is impossible to know exactly what animal-based training practices may be occurring at the four facilities that are the subject of the ongoing lawsuit: the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, the Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, the Texas Darnall Army Medical Center, and the San Diego Naval Medical Center. A public outcry for transparency may be what is needed to finally shine a light on the animal-based training believed to still be occurring in these places, and animal lovers can help by urging the Department of Defense to comply with requests to release key documents.

Of course, almost no one would dispute that military doctors should receive the best training possible so as to be prepared to offer life-save assistance under some of the most difficult conditions imaginable. However, even if you believe that training on live animals may have been necessary at one point, it’s clear that in our age of modern technology this tradition simply isn’t in the interests of animals, doctors, or soldiers. In fact, it has become abundantly clear that using live animals in training exercises actually compromises the goals of medical training programs while subjecting sentient beings to incalculable suffering.

So, how can those of us concerned about animal-based medical training take action? Contact your members of Congress and let them know you want future Defense Department funding authorizations to include legislation requiring the complete phaseout of training using live animals. Help educate others by spreading the word about these abhorrent practices. And, support organizations like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine who are working to shine a light on what’s happening.

It is thanks to the advocacy of animal rights groups and ordinary people that we’ve already made great strides toward reducing the number of animals who suffer during military training. However, as long as live creatures are being stabbed, shot, and cut apart unnecessarily, we cannot let up the pressure for change. It is time to end the use of live animals for military training altogether–and with enough people speaking out, we can bring this goal within reach.

Photo credit: Pixabay

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Nick Engelfried Writes About Animals, the Environment, and Conservation for the ForceChange network