MILITARY: Groups decry use of pigs

PETA planning protest at Camp Pendleton gate this week

MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com | Posted: Saturday, August 8, 2009 6:15 pm

Using live animals to train combat medics and others in how to deal with traumatic injuries is no longer necessary because of sophisticated medical mannequins and other training options, people opposed to the practice argue.

A group of doctors aligned under the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington contends it's not only unnecessary to use live animals, it's illegal, too. The group recently petitioned the Department of Defense to stop using animals, citing Army and Navy regulations.

"The use of vervet monkeys by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense constitutes a clear violation of the Joint Regulation, as does the use of pigs and goats," the group wrote in a petition filed July 18 with the Defense Department.

Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the petition is under review.

The Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also object to the practice.

After learning that training involving anesthetized pigs is taking place in Valley Center for Camp Pendleton troops, PETA last month tried to convince county land-use officials to shut it down. That effort failed, and now the group says it plans a protest at the Main Gate into Camp Pendleton on Wednesday.

The company conducting the training for the Marine Corps, Deployment Medicine International, was founded in the mid-1990s. David Morehouse, its vice president for operations, has written a lengthy defense of using pigs and other animals, saying the training may be the only exposure troops get prior to seeing a war casualty. (Read the full text of his statement at "DMI Talking Point Paper").

"Every possible step is taken to ensure the animal feels no pain during the training," he wrote. "So intense is this monitoring that the veterinary staff walk a fine line between pressing the model so deep into anesthesia that even a slight increase in medication would in fact euthanize the animal."

Not so, contends PETA spokesman Shalin Gala, who said the group is convinced that using mannequins and placing troops in trauma centers are reasonable alternatives.

"Live animals such as pigs have a completely different anatomy and physiology" than humans, Gala said. "Our main concern is always for the animals."

Dr. John Pippin, senior medical and research adviser at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, helped write the petition calling for an end to using animals. During a telephone interview last week, he said the ultimate goal is to persuade the military to phase out the use of animals.

"We are patient and this is an important issue," Pippin said. "The military has come pretty far down the road on use of simulators and it's time to make the change."

His group, Pippin said, would not have filed such a petition with war raging in Afghanistan, and to a lesser extent in Iraq, if it was not convinced that mannequins, simulated exercises and putting troops in trauma centers were sufficient.

"We also understand the argument that military personnel have to go through the shock and experience of seeing a living creature maimed, but we think that is just wrong and the military hasn't done any studies to support that," Pippin said. "We think that confidence can be gained with these other methods."

Pippin also argued that pigs are sentient beings that experience fear, pain and have a well-ingrained survival instinct.

He lauded the Marine Corps for opening up the training to observation last week, saying that a full understanding of what takes place is important to the debate.

For some neighbors of the Valley Center property where the training with pigs takes place, the debate isn't the issue. It's the noise from simulated battle.

"I have no issue with the training because it benefits the military," said Ruth Harber, who lives about a quarter-mile away. "But it should take place on the military bases."

Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.

Ellie