Misuse of animals for warfare

Nature

Warfare experiments designed to give actual experience in the treatment of wounds, the effects of chemicals and drugs, and general practice in military manoeuvres, are often carried out with animals as both the subjects and targets, as the effects and their reactions come closest to approximating those which will be found among humans.

Incidence

From 1978-1984, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia stopped exporting rhesus monkeys to the West when it was discovered that they were used in military experiments. In 1984, NATO troops participated in a military exercise in northern Norway where 6 pigs were shot in the leg from 10 yards away and then shot in the abdomen at close range. Medical treatment followed, and after the operation was completed, the pigs were burned in order to provide experience in destroying bodies on a battlefield.

Claim

Such brutal experiments deny animal rights and denigrate man to depths of insensitivity and brutality. It is a sad reflection upon man that he spends his talents and time upon such pursuits as inflicting suffering on innocent and helpless animals. The use of animals for such purposes is also a direct insult to people who regard such depravity as a violation of their own religions traditions and national cultures and principles.

Counter-claim

The use of animals is the only realistic way to train surgeons and medical personnel in the treatment of casualties and to deduce probable effects of chemicals, etc, on human populations.