Woody Harrelson to Army: End Warfare Tests
Victory: As a result of PETA’s campaign, the Army announced that it is ending its cruel use of monkeys in chemical attack training exercises and will instead use advanced human simulators!
Woody Harrelson was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of an Army captain in The Messenger, and now the actor is sending a real-life message to the Army’s new chief of staff regarding the cruel chemical agent poisoning of monkeys at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The star of the hotly anticipated Hunger Games film sent a letter to Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, describing how the monkeys who endure a forced overdose “suffer the wretched symptoms of chemical poisoning, including seizures, breathing difficulties, loss of bowel control, and convulsions,” and asking the general to “stop this crude exercise at Aberdeen” and replace it with superior non-animal methods of simulating nerve agent attacks.
Woody’s letter follows a PETA protest outside Army Secretary John McHugh’s home and as thousands of compassionate people’s responses to PETA’s action alert—which I must ask you to respond to also and to pass on to everyone you know (get the whole office to sign—the whole neighborhood!).
Please join Woody in sending Army officials the message that not only is the image of America’s armed forces tarnished by conducting crude warfare experiments on monkeys—who are snatched from their Caribbean homes and families and who endure frightening shipping conditions—these cruel procedures also violate military policies requiring the use of non-animal methods when available and prohibiting harming primates for training exercises.
Written by Jeff Mackey
