Target: Stephen H. Ferrara, M.D., Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.
Goal: Enforce the new prohibition on live-animal trauma training, end all remaining military animal wounding tests, and impose meaningful penalties on any personnel or contractors who allegedly violate these standards.
Hidden behind training walls, animals have been cut, burned, and subjected to “weapon wounding” in military exercises, even as lawmakers moved to prohibit the notorious use of pigs and goats for live-fire trauma drills. Advocates welcomed that step yet warned that other invasive procedures apparently remain on the table. These methods cause suffering that modern simulators can replace.
The Defense Health Agency has invested in advanced modeling and simulation and maintains a dedicated office to develop realistic, human-relevant training. That capacity for humane training methods exists today. If the military still authorizes stabbing, burning, or similar procedures on anesthetized animals, those practices are policy choices, not necessities.
Accountability matters. A clear, enforced ban must cover all wounding tests, with disciplinary action for any unit or contractor that purportedly defies the law or uses loopholes to continue harmful protocols. Battlefield medics can train without cutting into live beings. The new ban should be the floor, not the ceiling.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Dr. Ferrara,
We appreciate the prohibition on using pigs and goats for live-fire trauma training. That change acknowledges both ethics and effectiveness. Yet other invasive animal wounding practices continue under anesthesia, including stabbing, burning, and “weapon wounding.” These methods inflict pain and distress and they are not required when advanced simulation and human-actor “cut-suit” training are available.
Your agency already oversees robust modeling and simulation programs. We urge you to use that capability to eliminate remaining animal wounding tests across the enterprise. Please issue clear guidance that ends these procedures, close any policy gaps that permit them, and set enforceable timelines for full replacement with simulation-based training.
Finally, we ask that you establish meaningful penalties for noncompliance. Units and contractors that purportedly ignore the new live-animal ban or attempt to continue harmful protocols should face swift administrative action and loss of contracts where applicable. Medics deserve the best training. Animals deserve freedom from needles harm.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Boys in Bristol Photography
