Canadian military uses animals for training, testing
OTTAWA — Then-defence minister Peter MacKay was told in a secret briefing last year the Canadian military had no choice but to continue using thousands of live animals for testing chemical-weapon antidotes and medical training.
The briefing came after a study in the journal Military Medicine revealed Canada was one of only six NATO countries still using live mice, ferrets and pigs for military purposes.
Defence officials said at that time that they were “actively” looking to end the practice.
But in a briefing note obtained by Postmedia News, officials cited Canadian laws forbidding the application of new drugs or medical techniques on humans without pre-clinical trials on “animal models” as among the reasons for the continued need for live animals.
It also said “limiting or abolishing the use of animals” at National Defence “would significantly impair training delivery, impact (the military’s) readiness and could threaten the health of its deployed members.”
National Defence uses an average of 2,900 live animals each year for research, the note adds.
It uses an undisclosed number of additional animals for training battlefield doctors on how to treat gunshot wounds and blast injuries.
One of authors of the Military Medicine study questioned the defence officials’ assertions, noting 22 other NATO countries have phased out the use of live animals for military purposes.
“Use of simulations is superior to the use of animals,” said Justin Goodman, a sociologist at Virginia’s Marymount University and an associate director with the animal-welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “The problem is institutional inertia. They could switch overnight if they wanted.”
Goodman wrote the study with U.S. researcher Shalin Gala, Maj. Michael Murphy from the Indiana University School of Medicine and Marion Balsam, former commander of the U.S. Naval Medical Centre Portsmouth in Virginia.
MacKay’s briefing note, dated Oct. 24, 2012, says the Canadian Forces “uses ad- vanced simulation for the vast majority of its medical training need.”
Animals are only used for specialized training “where simulation is not feasible and cannot replace the precision and experience gained in order to save lives.”
The note also says that if animal testing is phased out it would stop the development of nerve-agent antidotes and biological-weapon treatments, as well as ways to deal with blast injuries.