PETA visits over Army's goat use

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will be in Colorado Springs today to protest the Army's use of live goats in trauma-training exercises for medics. A Fort Carson medic alerted the animal rights group that goats were to be shot this week, PETA said in a release.

"PETA points out that the exercises may violate the Department of Defense's own animal welfare regulation, which requires the use of non-animal methods when such methods are available," PETA said.

The group said the Air Force and Navy do not use live animals in medical trauma training.

Col. B Shannon Davis, Fort Carson's senior deputy commander and chief of staff, said the training is used throughout the DOD and has been proven to save thousands of lives on the battlefield, as medics learn how to handle the wounds they'll see on the battlefield.

"We don't take it lightly," Davis said. "We do it very controlled, there is no shooting or burning of goats."

Medics train on computers, mannequins and cadavers in addition to the goats, Davis said.

"There is nothing that replicates the type of training they get with live tissue training," he said.

The goats are put under general anesthesia before combat wounds are replicated, Davis said.

The goats are purchased on a federal contract through an Army vendor, are euthanized after the training, and their remains are cremated.

The protest is scheduled for noon at the intersection of South Nevada Avenue and East Cheyenne Road.