US military to stop shooting live animals to train medics for the battlefield

Defense department will still allow stabbing and burning, and weapon wounding' on animals to test weapons

The US military will stop its practice of shooting pigs and goats to help prepare medics for treating wounded troops in a combat zone, ending an exercise made obsolete by simulators that mimic battlefield injuries.

The prohibition on live fire" training that includes animals is part of this year's annual defense bill, although other uses of animals for wartime training will continue. The ban was championed by Vern Buchanan, a Republican congressman from Florida who often focuses on animal rights issues.