Military organizations use animals for research, training, and operational purposes, raising welfare questions that receive limited public scrutiny.
Military animal use operates with less transparency and public oversight than civilian animal research. Military working dogs face welfare challenges throughout their service: deployment stress, injury risk, separation from handlers, and often difficult transitions to retirement. Military marine mammal programs maintain dolphins and sea lions in high-performance operational roles that raise questions about animals' ability to lead natural lives. The use of live animals in trauma training for military medics - still practiced in some countries - causes severe suffering that validated simulator alternatives can replace.