What do you get when PETA teams up with Chuck D of Public Enemy and his wife, Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine; Serj Tankian of System of a Down; Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise; and every member of Anti-Flag? I'd say you get the most impressive band of musical talent ever to rage against the U.S. military's animal-abuse machine.

100xr / CC

Each of the notables listed above has signed PETA's petition calling on the Department of Defense to end the gruesome, hideously cruel abuse of animals in training exercises, which include stabbing, shooting, and burning live pigs, cutting off goats' legs,and poisoning monkeys. There are better ways to train medics that don't rely on tormenting animals.

Caring people are demanding that the U.S. military follow Bolivia's lead by banning all animal abuse in military training exercises. Join the fight by adding your name to our petition.

Posted by Karin Bennett

In case it's never been said before, I'm going to go ahead and say it: Colorado activists rock!

Activists in Colorado Springs showed that they are fed up with Fort Carson for stabbing and reportedly burning and shooting live goats in bloody trauma-training exercises that attempt to mimic human battlefield injuries. They staked out a busy intersection near Fort Carson and got busy alerting commuters that the exercises are not only cruel but also archaic and unnecessary.

PETA "troops" expose Fort Carson's dirty little secret.

An activist makes darn sure that no driver gets by without getting the message.

PETA signs caught the attention of many military folk on their way to the Fort Carson base.

Oh, did I mention that some of the activists in attendance were ex-military? You know that things are shady when even former soldiers start breaking rank. (I can think of a few other soldiers who would probably agree.)

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

virginmedia / CC

In case you needed another reason to love British funnyman Ricky Gervais, we've got one for you. Ricky was on the David Letterman show last week, and when Letterman asked him what he got for Christmas, he responded that the worst gift he received was "the gift of a goat." He explained that a goat was donated to a family in Africa in his name. Letterman looked puzzled. Gervais continued:

Ricky: They're 50 quid down, I've got nothing, the African family's going, "Not another mouth to feed." It's ridiculous. There's nothing in it for the goat. The goat wakes up in barren land going, "Where am I? A week ago I was gamboling through the Cotswolds in glades and then someone just kidnapped me, put me on a boat, took me to Africa." It's like Roots in reverse. I bet he didn't want to go to Africa. I think the goat had no choice. …

Letterman: There may be another way to look at this, but I accept your point.

Ricky: I can't see one.

Ricky is right! Donating animals is no gift for the animals who are "gifted" (they must forage in a dust bowl where they often can't find water, and they end up tethered and are usually slaughtered!). And it can actually make things worse for the impoverished family that receives them. Luckily, there are great alternatives. Ricky's friend could have donated to Food for Life or The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation instead, both of which support sustainable (and cruelty-free) programs to combat hunger. Take a leaf from Ricky's book, and let the goats continue "gamboling through the Cotswolds in glades" or wherever they belong.

Posted by Lianne Turner

wannaveg / CC

Last month, PETA broke the news about barbaric U.S. Army trauma training exercises that were being conducted at a base camp in Hawaii, in which pigs were shot with high-powered rifles. Local Army officials there are standing by their false claims that these exercises are necessary to provide soldiers with the skill to treat trauma victims on the battlefield, even though it seems to us these exercises broke Army regulations by not using available alternatives to the primitive use of animals.

I guess we can sleep well knowing that if a soldier loses his tail during a raid, some well-trained fellow soldiers, thanks to this training, may be able to reattach the necessary posterior appendage.

Given the U.S. Army's apparent outright disregard for their own regulations and the treatment of these animals, PETA is now asking commanding officers at bases in Hawaii and Texas—where a more recent training exercise included breaking and amputating the legs of nearly 1,000 goats with tree trimmers—for a court martial over the shooting, mutilating, and killing of animals during these old-fashioned training exercises.

According to the Army's own regulations, the Army is required to use alternatives to animals in training exercises when scientifically valid and comparable alternatives exist. And they do! The animal exercise should have been replaced with validated, state-of-the-art simulators, such as the Department of Defense's own Combat Trauma Patient Simulator, which more realistically simulates battlefield conditions and, consequently, is considered superior to outdated animal methods. Other viable alternatives include Dr. Emad Aboud's "living" cadaver perfusion model, Simulab Corporation's TraumaMan system, and establishing military level one trauma centers in nearby communities in order to have trainees work with the community to take care of their city's population.

Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department, says, "The Army has regulations in place specifically to prevent this kind of cruelty to animals, but the oversight committee apparently chose to ignore them. Our soldiers deserve to be trained using the most advanced technology available—that means using human simulators."

The U.S. Army does not train soldiers to race into battle zones to retrieve injured pigs, goats, or dogs. That would be great, but let's face it: It's not the government's main agenda. Time, money, and resources could be far better spent.

You can take action on this issue here.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky