WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has decided to cease its controversial practice of utilizing pigs and goats in live-fire exercises intended to train medics for treating battlefield injuries. This decision comes as advanced simulators have become effective substitutes, accurately replicating combat wounds.

This new prohibition on using live animals for such training is included in this year’s defense bill. Nonetheless, the military will still employ animals for other types of wartime training. The ban was strongly advocated by Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Republican from Florida, who is known for his dedication to animal rights issues.

Buchanan highlighted this development as “a significant advance in minimizing needless suffering within military practices.”

According to Buchanan’s office, while the Defense Department will eliminate live-fire exercises, it will continue to permit training involving stabbing, burning, and blunt force on animals, as well as “weapon wounding,” where weapons are tested on animals. Animal rights organizations note that animals should be anesthetized during these procedures.

The Defense Health Agency, responsible for overseeing the training, declared on Friday that the Defense Department is committed to finding alternatives to animal models, ensuring the high standards of medical training are upheld.

The agency cited the establishment of its Defense Medical Modeling and Simulation Office as a testament to those efforts, which include “realistic training scenarios to ensure medical providers are well-prepared to care for the combat-wounded.”

Groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals declared victory, saying the change will spare the lives of thousands of animals each year and “marks a historic shift toward state-of-the-art, human-relevant simulation technology.”

It’s unclear how often the military uses animals for training. Previous defense bills and other pieces of legislation have sought to reduce their use for trauma training, according to a 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office, an independent agency that serves Congress.

The 2013 defense bill required the Pentagon to submit a report that outlined a strategy for transitioning to human-based training methods, the GAO said. A 2018 statute required the secretary of defense to ensure the military used simulation technology “to the maximum extent practicable” or unless use of animals was deemed necessary by the medical chain of command.

The GAO report stated the animals are placed under anesthesia and then euthanized.

“Live animals such as pigs and goats are used in trauma training because their organs and tissues are similar to humans, they have biological variation that can complicate treatment and provide opportunities to control medical conditions,” the report stated.

But groups such as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine say anesthetized pigs and goats do little to prepare medics or corpsmen for treating wounded servicemembers. They said the advent of “cut suits” that are worn by people are much better at mimicking an injured human who is moaning and writhing.

“The big argument is this is a living, breathing thing that they have to take care of and there’s this level of realism,” said Erin Griffith, a retired Navy doctor and member of the physicians committee. “But replicating what it’s like when their buddy is shot and bleeding and awake is very different.”