Did you know the U.S. army shoots live pigs?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_on_re_us/army_pigs

Answer 1

Do you eat meat????

Answer 2

I had not heard of this - I suppose it is not the best way - but ask yourself how else will they learn how to do this with human subjects.  Sorry I suppose the pigs will be brought to market anyway at some time in their lives so I am unsure how I feel about it - also will the pigs feel the pain?I don't know all the ins and outs of this so cannot say yeah or neah to the whole thing.

Answer 3

yuck.........nice and humane.

Answer 4

Does it matter?  Everyone eats pigs in bacon or ham or sausages.  Compared just the meat industry this is nothing.

Lobby for clean meat!

And they are trying to save lives of soldiers in the excercise so it's worth it.

Answer 5

No, I didn't. I live in the UK and I hope the UK armed forces doesn't do that either!

These Americans are crazy! =))

Answer 6

Ok shooting pigs might not be the best way to train an army but it's no different than sending a pig to a slaughter house to make your bacon, sausages, pork chops etc.

Guy 1- What makes you say they should use homeless people, and prisoners in Gitmo, half of whom have not been declared guilty?

Answer 7

There isn't a better way to show what a gunshot wound looks like. A quarter century ago I got to play with a shot goat in the Combat Casualty Care Course. It was a little redundant for me, since I'm not only an emergency physician but also a long-time hunter, but for most it was revelatory. It was also done under general anesthesia by veterinarians, so there was no question of having the animals suffer. They also try to get people experience with gunshot wounds in inner-city trauma centers. But there isn't a decent alternative for showing the difference between the usual wound from lower-velocity gunshot wounds and those from the high-velocity rounds of the M4/M16.

Answer 8

As far as I know, companies that manufacture ammunition for firearms have been testing their products on live pigs for years.

Since the U.S. government is tied in with defense contractors, I doubt anything will ever change in regard to such a heinous practice.

Answer 9

That sounds like something Al Qaeda would do, not the US.  Disgusting!

Answer 10

If that's the only way to treat wounded soldiers then these medics should all go back to the medical school where they were taught and do their course all over again. I have never heard of civilian doctors killing pigs so why should it be necessary for the military to do it.?

Answer 11

We all say that war is a dirty business !

Answer 12

Yeah, and?

I like the suggestion of using death row inmates and lifers. Let them give something back.

Answer 13

Using innocent live animals for shooting practice is the most despicable thing I 've heard.   Those who engage in such acts have lost all claims to moral superiority.  How barbaric!

No animal should have to suffer for the greed and petty squabbles of homo sapiens.

Edit:  Very sad that there are those who cannot understand that big or small, they're all God's creatures and as expressions of the Divine spirit, they deserve respect.  

Pain is pain and the pain of the pig is no lesser or greater than the pain of the soldier.  As for those saying brutalizing other animals is the only way medics can learn their trade, all I have to say, is learn to be civilized and stop playing with guns.

A measure of a society is how kindly or brutally the people treat the weakest in their midst.

Thumbs down for protesting the brutal treatment of animals?  Perhaps it should be remembered that those who are callous towards animals generally are callous toward their fellow humans.

Answer 14

I saw that and am disgusted by it. They should use the homeless, death row inmates, or the terrorist prisoners at Gitmo for their target practice. The pigs are innocent creatures.

Answer 15

Usually, PETA puts animal welfare in front of humans. They lost me when they threw fake blood on people wearing furs. I've already got the government meddling in my life I don't need any more people telling me what I can and can't do.

Answer 16

They have weapons of mass destruction.....

Answer 17

Thank God they aren't shooting Deer or Ducks.How could anyone shoot a pig? "That's all Folks."

Answer 18

Did you know the US Army shoots live civilian human beings, ostensibly for the advancement of democracy?

Where's your outrage on that one?

The animal supremacists are definitely the extreme outer fringes of the hysterical, non-thinking masses.  PETA, et al, only came into existence after Ronald Reagan shut down the asylums!

No other special interest group revels in idiocy to this magnitude.

I don't care if/whether you eat meat, wear leather; that's your business & believe me, you best stay out of mine!

Answer 19

If they are not going to smoke some ham and cure some bacon afterwards, then it is a waste of good meat. But, I think that it is better than what the first answer suggested except for the terrorist prisoner part.