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Dear
Manfred,
I'm
very happy to let you know that following more than three years of campaigning
by PETA and local activists, the Norwegian government has, for the first time,
rejected an application by the Norwegian Armed Forces to shoot, stab, and break
the bones of live pigs in crude medical training exercises on the grounds that
the military did not provide any justification for the need to use animals for
this purpose.This groundbreaking decision by the Norwegian Animal Research
Authority (NARA) was based in part on information provided by PETA showing that
state-of-the-art human-patient simulators are more effective at training medical
personnel than injuring and killing animals. The progressive move comes after
numerous appeals from PETA and its international affiliates to the Norwegian
defence minister and more than 164,000 e-mails to defense officials from
concerned members of the public through PETA and its affiliates' online action
alerts. The Norwegian defence minister previously wrote to PETA that if
Norway's use of animals in trauma training is not in accordance with ethical,
legal, and medical standards, then this "calls for a change of
practice." NARA's published decision also reveals that the Norwegian
Armed Forces asked NARA not to "publicly release" this information, likely so
that the military could quietly amend its application and resubmit it for
approval without PETA's knowledge. Thankfully, NARA published its decision in
its entirety. Please join PETA in contacting Norwegian defense officials to
urge them to join the nearly 80 percent of their NATO peers in making the
compassionate decision to train service members using exclusively non-animal
training methods.Sincerely,  Justin Goodman Director Laboratory Investigations
Division People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
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