I have written the following letter to our Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel concerning the continuing but unnecessary use of animals in our military research facilities.
"Dear Mr. Hagel
"I am 
ed and outraged to find out through reading reports by leading animal welfare groups with graphic videos how the military is continously using animals needlessly for research when there are so many more reliable means of doing such research which produce for more accurate and conclusive results. It makes me sick to see the suffering endured by these animals which is equal to or even greater than any torture our military could receive from the enemy. I simply cannot believe that any human being particularly those in our military would condone and continue to cause these animals so much suffering and death when many of the tests already have shown the results that don’t need repeating. If that is what it takes to desensitive our military so they can kill with wreckless abandon which now seems to be the case with all the reports coming out of such brutality to not only the enemy combatants but also to too many innocent civilians along with their pets and livestock.I want no part of such a military nor serve in it.In fact it makes me no longer to be proud to be an American.or patriotic Previously I had high praise for our military and fully supported many of their causes and donation programs but no more
"Fortunately through the untiring and tenacious efforts of these animal welfare groups they have convinced some military reseach facilities to switch to more humane and reliable testing procedures without the use of animals. but to me that is enough. I will not rest until every military reseach facility stops using animals for testing and reseach purposes. I will no longer support the military with my money or advocate their causes through letters, phone calls, faxes and e-mail. Maybe Jane Fonda wasn’t so wrong after all.
"And what about all these stress disorders our military is now experiencing resulting in the greatest suicide rate our armed forces have ever seen. We did not experience that in all formally declared wars which ended with World War II and in total victory Is it because the full American public was not behind them or was it that the commanding officers decided it was not worth fighting resulting in war crime frustration taken out on the enemy and civilian population along with whatever animals they had in their possession, and the nco’s were ordered to do these attrocities against every moral compuncition not to do so. Repeated such incidents would certainly create a serious mental stress situation. Animals always seem to have to suffer the needless casualties of war. They have no one to speak for them against any injustice man may wish to perpetrate upon them. I have always tried and will continue to try to be their voice and particularly now for those involved in these horrendous and unconsionable research experiments.by our military
"And what about the terrible experiments with sonar and other dangerous chemicals being used along our coastlines not only resulting in the deaths of too many of our marine wildlife along with harmful physical effects on the human population living along those coastlines? Many voices are now appealing for this testing to stop and for the sake of all life IT MUST STOP!
"I will never be able to figure out why animals must be a necessity for testing anyway. Their anatomical structure differs from a human’s which all too frequently results in inconclusive and sometimes disastrous results. An animal cannot tell you if it has a pain in the stomach, headache or other physical probem as a result of the testing. Look at the unconscionable results of thalomide testing which ended up in malformed babies and this did not show up during the tests using animals. Also using this method unnecessarily delays the results since after using animals then they have to use human volunteers. Results without the use of animals would be obtainable in half the time in the majority of cases.
"I will do everything possible to convince my military friends who hopefully love animals the way I do to get them to stop supporting the military also. On behalf of all the animals crying out in those reseach facilities I DEMAND THAT OUR MILITARY IMMEDIATELY STOP THE USE OF ANIMALS FOR RESEARCH AND USE THE HUMANE METHODS recommended by our animal welfare group, primarily the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine comprised of over one thousand physicians who ought to know the truth and when that truth is fully implemented it will truly set these animals free from unnecessary forture and death.
Karen Karvelis"
I hope all who read my comments will do what they can to stop this cruelty. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has numerous petitions dealing with every military installation that conducts such experiments which you can sign and pass on to others.Just type in your browser, "The Physicans Committee for Responsible Medicine, and they will list the actions you need to take in the matter.