Regulations and Standards

A New Bill May Stop the Use of Animals for Training in the Armed Forces
On On 24 January 2011, Rep Filner, Bob (D-CA), Chairman of the House of Representatives Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced bill H.R.403 the “Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act,” or “BEST Practices Act.”

If passed, this bill will require the Secretary of Defense, no later than 1 October 2014, “to use only human-based methods for training members of the Armed Forces in the treatment of severe combat and chemical and biological injuries.” It will prohibit the use of animals in such training.

This bill contains the Congressional findings below:

1. Significant progress the Department of Defense (DOD) has already made in developing and using methods of medical training and protection of Armed Forces staff that have reduced battlefield fatalities.
2. DOD uses live monkeys to train medical personnel to treat casualties of chemical and biological agent attacks and uses live goats and pigs to teach physicians, medics, corpsmen, and other personnel methods to respond to severe battlefield injuries.
3. Superior human-based training methods for numerous medical procedures are now taught in military courses with the use of animals.
4. Human-based methods have been developed and validated for training responses to common battlefield injuries and chemical and biological agent attacks.
5. Management of hemorrhage, sucking chest wounds, airway compromise, and many other combat trauma injuries can be taught using numerous medical simulators and partial task trainers.
6. Entirely human-based curricula for treating patients exposed to biological and chemical agents are widespread in civilian hospitals

This bill was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services on 24 January 2011 and to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel on 4 February 2011. It replaces a similar bill in the previous Congress.

Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act. The Library of Congress. Bill Summary & Status. 112th Congress (2011 - 2012). H.R.403. 24 January 2011.

Veterinarian Moshe Shalev, MSc (Genetics), VMD, is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. A recognized expert in medicine, management, and facility designs of small, farm, and exotic laboratory animals, he publishes regularly on animal welfare regulations.