The end is near for the military's cruel trauma training exercises, in which thousands of animals are maimed and killed each year!

PETA has discovered—and the U.S. Army's Office of the Surgeon General has confirmed—that the Army has implemented a major shift in policy that states, "Non-medical personnel are not authorized to participate in training that involves the use of animal models." These nonmedical service members, who previously were allowed to abuse and kill animals in these drills, will now be taught exclusively using non-animal "alternatives such as commercial training manikins, moulaged actors, cadavers, or virtual simulators."

This will likely prevent thousands of animals from being shot, cut apart, and killed each year in crude exercises like the disturbing military training drill that PETA exposed last year showing live goats who had their limbs broken and cut off. 

But that's not all: According to the Army, this change is just one of several that will be unveiled as a result of a series of meetings that began in February about restructuring the military's medical training program. The shift is likely in response to PETA supporters' protests, as well as Congress' request that the Department of Defense (DOD) submit a detailed plan for the phase-out of all animal use in medical training drills in favor modern non-animal methods. That report, which has already been delayed once, is now due in early summer. We'll keep you posted as we learn more about the military's broader plans to make all its deadly animal laboratories history.

What You Can Do

This is momentous progress, but we're not done yet. Please urge military officials to end the cruel use of animals in training for all personnel immediately.

Update:

We have two hot developments to report in PETA's campaign to expose and end the abuse of animals in cruel and archaic U.S. military medical training drills: Following complaints filed by PETA about the abuse of goats seen in a shocking undercover video, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited military trauma training contractor Tier 1 Group for violating the Animal Welfare Act, and the Virginia Beach Zoning Administration (VBZA) has warned the owner of the property where the training allegedly took place that these exercises are not permitted there.

Originally posted July 27:

Teaching Heartlessness

In April, PETA released the video footage taken by a whistleblower during a trauma training session for members of the U.S. Coast Guard. The video showed course instructors with Tier 1 Group repeatedly cutting off the limbs of live goats with tree trimmers, stabbing the animals with scalpels, and cutting into their abdomens to pull out their organs as they twitched, moaned, and kicked. Veterinarians who viewed the video confirmed that these are signs that the goats were not adequately anesthetized and were likely feeling pain.

The video also showed a course instructor from Tier 1 Group who cheerfully whistled as he cut the legs off goats as well as Coast Guard participants who joked about writing a song about mutilating the animals.

Intolerable Cruelty

At the time the video was released, PETA filed a number of complaints with authorities, and two of these agencies have now taken disciplinary action against parties responsible for the training. (A U.S. Coast Guard investigation into PETA's complaint is ongoing.)

The USDA citation for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act was issued because of Tier 1 Group's failure to give adequate anesthesia to the goats who were stabbed and cut into. This is a repeat violation, as Tier 1 Group was cited by the USDA for a similar violation last year.

The USDA's citation of Tier 1 Group for failing to anesthetize animals properly during invasive procedures is made even more alarming by the fact that just days after the USDA citation, the U.S. Navy awarded Tier 1 Group a contract worth nearly $2 million to conduct 24 trauma training exercises on live pigs. A company that has violated federal animal welfare law should not be rewarded with millions of tax dollars.

The VBZA letter not only warned that such exercises aren't permitted but also notified the property owner that legal action may be pursued against him if such unauthorized activities are conducted on the land in the future. These unlawful training exercises have taken place there for years, but officials have now made it clear that they must not occur there ever again.

What You Can Do

Please join PETA and its dedicated supporters—including military veterans Oliver Stone and Bob Barker—in urging the military to replace these cruel animal laboratories with humane and advanced human-patient simulators.

The military contractor that was responsible for hacking apart inadequately anesthetized goats in a crude military trauma training exercise exposed by PETA wants to conduct 24 more training courses—but it won't get the chance if Congress can help it.

Violations Abound

Tier 1 Group, LLC, was made infamous when PETA released a video exposé of a U.S. Coast Guard trauma training course in which Tier 1 Group instructors cut off goats' legs with tree trimmers, cut into the animals' abdomens to pull out their organs, and stabbed the animals with scalpels as the goats moaned and kicked. PETA filed a complaint, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited Tier 1 Group for violating the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). It was Tier 1 Group's second AWA violation in as many years. A U.S. Coast Guard investigation of Tier 1 Group following a PETA complaint is still ongoing.

Congress Steps In

So when this law-breaking company was awarded yet another military contract worth nearly $1.8 million of taxpayer money, members of Congress were aghast. A group of 11 representatives contacted Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and called for an investigation into why Tier 1 Group received the new contract. They cited regulations that clearly require federal contractors to abide by the law, including the AWA. The representatives assert that Tier 1 Group's history of repeatedly breaking the law may be sufficient cause to revoke the new military contract and to prevent the company from ever receiving any more taxpayer funds.

There Is a Better Way

The congressional representatives' actions speak loud and clear: The government should not pay anyone to torment animals illegally. And it doesn't have to. Superior humanlike simulators are already in use in military training courses in the U.S. and around the world. The simulators are so realistic that they can cry, talk, respond to medications, bleed, breathe, and even "die," so it's easy to see how such a training tool would better prepare soldiers for what they may encounter on the battlefield than would crudely hacking apart an animal.

What You Can Do

A bill, the Battlefield Excellence Through Superior Training (BEST) Practices Act (H.R. 1417/S. 3418), currently pending before Congress, would responsibly phase out the U.S. military's use of animals in trauma training entirely and require the use of modern simulation technology. Please send a polite e-mail to your congressional representatives and ask them to cosponsor this lifesaving legislation today.

Members of PETA's research staff worked with current and former military medical officers to survey officials in all 28 NATO countries regarding their military medical training programs, and now their findings—showing that more than three-quarters of those nations do not use any animals—have been published in the August issue of Military Medicine, the prestigious journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S. The study's publication is just the most recent advance in PETA's campaign to end archaic, cruel, and deadly trauma training exercises by U.S. armed forces.

International Compassion, Domestic Cruelty

The 22 enlightened countries—among which are France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain—rely exclusively on a variety of non-animal training methods, including the use of lifelike human simulators in realistic battlefield scenarios.

Just six NATO countries, including (sadly) the U.S. and Canada, continue to use animals in invasive and often deadly procedures. Each year, the U.S. military and its contractors shoot, stab, mutilate, and kill more than 10,000 live animals in barbaric and antiquated trauma training exercises, even though modern simulators that breathe and bleed have been shown to better prepare doctors and medics to treat injured humans than animal laboratories.

As the study's authors state:

What You Can Do

Tell Congress that it's time to catch up to our allies and completely replace the use of animals in military trauma training with superior non-animal training methods.

The U.S. Army's plans to use animals in trauma training are enough to make a goat faint. The army is in the market to buy up to 3,600 goats to torment and kill in exercises like those seen in this shocking undercover video, which PETA released last month. The video, sent to us by a brave whistleblower, shows instructors as they saw off live goats' limbs with tree trimmers and crudely cut open the animals' abdomens and yank out their organs. Goats moan loudly and kick during the procedures.

Goats are intelligent, inquisitive, social animals who can quickly learn to open latches on farm gates and let themselves out. Moms and kids share a strong bond and have been known to recognize each other even if they have been separated for years.

The Army plans to mutilate thousands of goats even though high-tech human simulators are readily available and offer soldiers superior training in how to treat wounds in the field.

You can help: Send PETA's two goat images included here to the Army and urge it to save thousands of goats from suffering and dying in cruel trauma training exercises by using modern simulators instead. The Army is accepting bids only until June 11, so please act now!

Note: Please do not use the words "goat" or "goats" in your e-mail to the Army because it seems to be blocking e-mails with those words in them.

Navy veteran Bob Barker was appalled at what he saw in undercover video footage of U.S. Coast Guard trauma training leaked to PETA. In the video, live goats are stabbed, have their internal organs pulled out, and have their limbs cut off with tree trimmers. The goats moan loudly and kick while they are being mutilated, a sign that they were not sufficiently anesthetized, while an instructor cheerfully whistles and a soldier jokes about writing songs about mutilating the animals.

As a proud vet, Bob wants members of the armed forces to have the best possible training—and that means replacing archaic and cruel animal exercises  with superior lifelike human simulators that can bleed, breathe, have their bones broken, and even "die." The simulators are already in use at many military facilities, and military regulations even require that non-animal methods be used when available. But the policy isn't being enforced.

Bob wrote to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on PETA's behalf to urge them to improve military trauma training by mandating that all programs use only advanced human simulators.

What You Can Do

Join Bob in asking Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security officials to comply with federal regulations and replace all use of animals with human simulators.

Thanks to a brave whistleblower, PETA has obtained horrific undercover video of live animals whose limbs were cut off for an archaic military training drill. The course was held earlier this year in Virginia Beach, Virginia, by private contractor Tier 1 Group. 

In the shocking video, instructors repeatedly crack and cut off the limbs of live goats with tree trimmers, stab the animals with scalpels to cause internal injuries, and cut into their abdomens to crudely pull out their organs. Some of the goats moan loudly and kick their legs during the mutilations, which veterinarians who viewed the video say are signs that the goats were not adequately anesthetized and may have even been feeling pain.

The disturbing video footage shows a callous course instructor who cheerfully whistles while dismembering goats as well as members of the Coast Guard who joke about writing a song about mutilating the animals.

According to the whistleblower, later in the day the goats were shot in the face with pistols and were hacked apart with an ax while still alive. 

Today, there are high-tech humanlike simulators available specifically for military training that can breathe, bleed, cry, talk, and respond to medications. These human-based methods are obviously more humane and effective than cutting apart, blowing up, shooting, and killing thousands of animals every year. One shockingly realistic simulator is a special suit designed to be worn by a human actor that enables military personnel to safely perform emergency surgical procedures on a live human without any injury to the person.

Last year, PETA helped end an Army course that involved poisoning monkeys with chemicals, and we've saved ferrets and cats from other cruel military training courses by convincing military officials to switch to modern simulators. 

The evidence of the superiority of these state-of-the-art simulation methods is so overwhelming that Congress has introduced legislation to phase out the use of animals in military training in favor of non-animal methods.

We Need All Hands on Deck

Military medical experts, veterans, and civilian physicians are joining PETA in urging U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and other military officials to immediately end the use of animals in military trauma training exercises. And we need your help, too! 

Adult film star Raul Armenteros and another man have each been charged with 22 counts of cruelty to animals after police allegedly discovered a menagerie of animals—including roosters, guinea hens, pigeons, goats, and a duck—baking inside their locked van in the scorching Miami heat. Reportedly, the goats were all tied up inside plastic bags, and one was already dead when police arrived.
 

 
It isn't clear what Armenteros intended to do with the animals. What is clear is that he should never have left them to suffer inside a hot vehicle, as is alleged. On a mild day, the temperature inside a car parked in the shade with the windows cracked can reach 100 to 120 degrees in a few minutes. Animals left in these conditions can suffer and die from heatstroke in just 15 minutes.

If you see an animal inside a hot car, have the owner paged and call the police. If the animal's life appears to be in immediate danger, free the animal and wait for authorities. For more information on rescuing animals left inside vehicles, see PETA's tip sheet.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

No ifs, ands, or head butts—Bucky is one lucky goat. A California couple won $2 million from a scratch lottery ticket, and they plan to spend it to upgrade their animal sanctuary. They credit Bucky, the first animal they ever rescued, for their good fortune. Their decision means big bucks for Bucky and his buds (who include horses, chickens, and other goats). I'm guessing that Bucky will blow the money on kids, chicks, and a pimped-out pen.

How would you spend the money if you won the lottery? Leave us a comment and let us know. While you're dreaming of all that dough, be sure to watch the video of Bucky and the rest of the brood. Spoiler alert: One of the goats tries to eat the oversized check.

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

Ms. Goat is quite popular in the open-air copper mine where she has lived for the past three years. Beloved by the miners who work in this region, she takes refuge in a small nearby cave when it becomes too cold outside. But one recent chilly day, she wandered off and became stuck on a ledge, 100 feet in the air, without access to food, water, or shelter from the elements.

The goat's loyal mining friends spotted her on the ledge but were stumped as to how to rescue her. For five days, she remained stranded, and she couldn't last much longer. So the miners contacted PETA. Our caseworkers immediately coordinated a rescue effort with local authorities and the mine supervisors who, together, coaxed Ms. Goat off the ledge to safety.

When the news of this beloved goat's homecoming was announced over the mining speaker, the cheers from her faithful buddies were deafening. If you ever encounter an animal in distress, call local authorities for immediate assistance. If that doesn't work, get local media outlets involved! There is always someone who can help, so do not rest until your concerns for the animal in question are resolved. Your voice can often make all the difference for an animal in need!

Written by Logan Scherer