. Stock image. Photograph by Amanda Slater
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has defended the use of live animals as part of a NATO training course in Jaegerspris, Denmark.
Photographs publish in the Daily Mirror appear to show live pigs strung up and then shot by army marksman in an attempt to replicate battlefield wounds, so that military medical staff can practice emergency surgery.
The MoD said that they had not seen the photographs, so could not comment on them specifically, but they did confirm that such methods were vital in training doctors for the battlefield. A spokesperson told ITV:
“Our military surgeons undertake vital training in Denmark where they learn specialist trauma treatment skills that save lives on the battlefield.
All animals used in medical training are anaesthetised before they are treated and by participating in the Danish led exercises twice a year rather than conducting our own, we minimise the overall number of animals used.”
Animal rights group Peta described the training exercise as “a deplorable way to treat animals” and have appealed to the Danish Minister of Defence, Nicolai Wammen, to end Denmark’s participation in the practice.
