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PETA Urges Zoning Officials to Take Action After Pigs Are Stabbed, Shot, and Killed

July 30, 2009

Valley Center, CA (RPRN) 7/30/2009--This morning, PETA fired off a letter to Eric Gibson, director of the San Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use, urging him to take action following an apparent zoning violation involving the violent killings of live pigs. The request follows recent media reports that live pigs were shot and stabbed on an avocado grove on Pala Loma Drive as part of trauma training exercises conducted by Deployment Medicine International (DMI), a medical-training company based in Gig Harbor, Wash. The grove belongs to David Bishop, an Escondido police and SWAT officer.

Bishop's land is zoned as "limited agricultural," and according to the County of San Diego's zoning ordinance, trauma or medical training exercises using animals are not among the land's permitted uses. Citing the apparent violation of zoning regulations, PETA has asked that authorities levy any appropriate penalties.

PETA's letter points out that valid, non-animal methods that are better able to model human anatomy and physiology -- such as the Combat Trauma Patient Simulator -- are readily available. Furthermore, pigs are intelligent animals who suffer greatly during the more than 1,000-mile journey in the summer heat from Washington to California. At least 13 pigs from DMI died last summer while they were transported to training sites, apparently because of poor living conditions or inadequate veterinary care.

"These deadly training exercises are cruel, and they are also apparently against the law," says PETA Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "Stabbing and shooting pigs in order to train medical personnel how to treat human injuries is archaic. The animals, our police officers, and our armed services members deserve better."

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

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Shalin Gala 757-622-7382

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