The Evidence
Each year, 320,000 primates, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, cats and other animals are used by U.S. Department of Defense [DoD] in experiments that rank among the most painful conducted in this country. These animals are dosed with chemical and biological weapons, exposed to nuclear radiation, infected with some of our deadliest viruses, and forced to suffer a variety of other painful indignities-all in the name of human warfare. The cost to taxpayers for these military experiments is estimated to be in excess of $100 million annually.

Military animal experiments are conducted at 35 DoD facilities worldwide. In addition, DoD contracts with universities across the nation to conduct research involving animals. According to the Dod's own figures, nearly 18 percent of all military animal experiments-conducted on more than 57, 000 animals annually-involve unrelieved pain or distress.

Examples of military animal research, taken from the DoD's on-line database, include:Scalding and otherwise inflicting burns on sheep, rats, pigs and rabbits, then forcing the animals to inhale smoke or infecting their burn wounds with bacterial or fungal pathogen.

Infecting monkeys, dogs, cats, pigs, rabbits, hamster, guinea pigs, mice and rats to deadly infectious diseases and biological agents, including deadly filoviruses like Marburg and Ebola, anthrax, biotoxins [like ricin, staphylococcal entertoxin [SE], botulinum, mycotoxin], malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever.

Dosing monkeys, mice and guniea pigs with nuclear radiation: exposing mice and guinea pigs to radiation in combination with biological and chemical warfare agents, and surgically imbedding depleted uranium fragments in rats.

Using cats, pigs, ferrets, sheep, monkeys and rats t train medical and other personnel in medical procedures, such as emergency resuscitation techniques and surgery. One DoD training exercise involves the actual poisoning of live monkeys with nerve gases to teach chemical casualty care resuscitation

Congressional Concern
The DoD's animal experiments have long been a source of controversy. In response to public concern about military animal abuse, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee convened a hearing on April 7, 1992. former military researchers, physicians, scientists, and animal activists testified about waste, negligence and animal abuse in DoD research programs. After the hearing, U.S Representative Ron Dellums, on behalf of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee stated, "The committee has heard testimony that raises disturbing questions about the necessity, ethical propriety, oversight and quality of the military's experiments on animals."

The Armed Services Committee went on to require a number of measures designed to bring greater oversight to the militaryÕs animal research program. Among these measures were annual reporting requirements and a thorough investigation of the DoD animal use program by the U.S. General Accounting Office [GAO]. The ultimate goal was the reduction of animals used in DoD research and the elimination of wasteful and duplicative research.

The good news
Since the DoD began reporting to Congress in 1993, animal use by the military has declined by 42 percent. In addition, the GAO has begun its long-awaited investigation of the military's animal research program, breathing new life into efforts to oppose the DoD's torture of hundreds of thousands of animals annually.

What you can do
1. Write your Congressional representatives to spark new interest in this important area. Ask them to contact the GAO to support their effort for a thorough and completed investigation. Please also urge him/her to contact the DoD to support the aggressive implementation of alternatives to live animals in research.

2. Explore DoD's on-line Biomedical Database to look for military-sponsored research in your area. Type your state's abbreviation [i.e. CA] in the database's "Performing Organization, State" field.

3. Contact In Defense of Animals for more information about this important subject.

The committee has heard testimony that raises disturbing questions about the necessity, ethical propriety, oversight and quality of the military's experiments on animals. " U.S. House of Representatives, Armed Services Committee, 1992