The Army says it’s critical to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated.

Maj Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said the training is being conducted under a US Department of Agriculture license and the careful supervision of veterinarians and a military Animal Care and Use Committee.

“It’s to teach Army personnel how to manage critically injured patients within the first few hours of their injury,” Cheng said on Friday.

The soldiers are learning emergency lifesaving skills needed on the battlefield when there are no medics, doctors or facility nearby, he said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), however, said there are more advanced and humane options available, including high-tech human simulators.

In a letter, PETA urged the Army to end all use of animals, “as the overwhelming majority of North American medical schools have already done.” Shooting and maiming pigs is outdated as Civil War rifles,” said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA’s Laboratory Investigations Department.

The group demanded the exercise be halted after it was notified by a “distraught” soldier from the unit, who disclosed a plan to shoot the animals with M4 carbines and M16 rifles.