Rep. Johnson introduces bipartisan BEST Practices Act

Legislation updates battlefield trauma training methods phasing out live animals use; Sen. Ron Wyden introduces Senate version

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representative Hank Johnson (GA-04) introduced a bipartisan bill today addressing the use of live animals in military battlefield trauma training exercises.

The Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act of 2013 (H.R. 3172) or BEST Practices Act, prohibits the use of animals in live combat trauma injury and chemical and biological training after 2016.

Sen. Ron Wyden (OR) submitted the corresponding Senate bill.

“The BEST Practices Act provides a framework for the Department of Defense to phase out its use of animal-based training in favor of superior, human-based simulator technologies that have made great strides in the last decade,” said Rep. Johnson. “Using pigs and goats in live battlefield training is not the best option for our troops, and is inhumane treatment of animals.”

According to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the U.S. military uses about 8,500 animals every year in its combat trauma training courses.

“It’s wrong to kill animals when better training methods exist,” Wyden said. “Today’s technology can provide extremely life-like training simulations that better represent the anatomy of a soldier and more realistically simulate the conditions on the battlefield. The Department of Defense should phase out the use of live animals in favor of more realistic and humane technologies that will provide better overall trauma training.”

Civilian trauma center directors have found that operating on an anesthetized, unconscious goat or pig doesn’t adequately prepare medical professionals for treating human traumas. Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates the same. Many studies have found that simulators are as good or better at training doctors for real-world situations.

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