Shooting pigs in army training defended by MoD
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said it had no alternatives but to allow British Army snipers to shoot live pigs for surgeons to operate on.
A military training course in Jaegerspris, Denmark, involves live pigs being shot by marksmen to replicate battlefield wounds, and then operated on by medical staff.
The MoD argued that the training has helped to save lives, and that by participating in the Danish exercises - rather than replicating them in the UK - it is minimising the number of animals being used.
Approval would have to be obtained from the Home Office on a case-by-case basis for such practice in the UK. British participation was banned in 1998, but the courses were reinstated after it was determined there was "no equally effective alternative".
A spokesperson for the MoD said: "This training provides invaluable experience, exposing our surgical teams to the specific challenges posed by the injuries of modern armed conflict.
"This training has helped save lives on operations and by participating in the Danish exercises we minimise the overall number of animals used."
Animal rights groups have described the practice, formally known as Operation Danish Bacon, as "impossible to justify medically, ethically and educationally".
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has called for life-like dolls that breathe and bleed, to replace the use of live animals.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
