![Oscar-winning director and decorated war veteran Oliver Stone calls for an end to U.S. military's "war on animals" ~](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/5e/d3/5ed3636b62e10b0ac744563c71899615.jpg?itok=f_uXEqpM "Oscar-winning director and decorated war veteran Oliver Stone calls for an end to U.S. military's "war on animals" ~")
In a nationwide effort to pressure both the United States Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to stop using live animals in trauma training drills, prolific Hollywood director Oliver Stone has released leaked footage that exposes alleged animal abuse by the United States Coast Guard.
The secretly-taped video, which shows instructors severing limbs off live, moaning goats with tree trimmers and disemboweling an animal, was posted on YouTube May 31, 2012, by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Although the faces of the participants are blurred, one instructor whistles as he dismembers a goat while another jokes about composing songs about animal mutilation.
In response to the video, that was purportedly captured in Virginia Beach, VA, spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Jamie C. Frederick admitted in an email to the Associated Press that the Coast Guard does use "live tissue training using live animals."
According to PETA, as many as 10,000 animals are sacrificed annually for medical training in the military.
Although the animals appear to be sedated, a PETA blog post states that veterinarians who have watched the video believe the goats may not have been anesthetized sufficiently, as indicated by their movements.
Stone, who narrates the two-minute-forty-eight-second exposé, is calling on the American public to help him persuade the U.S. government to utilize modern, humane and non-animal methods to prepare medics and front-line troops in the handling of catastrophic injuries on the battlefield.
Stone, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, is best known for bringing to the silver screen such blockbusters as "Platoon," "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Natural Born Killers."
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