PETA Urges DoD to Ask Marines to Not Drink Cobra Blood as a Part of Jungle Survival Skills in Thailand; Protest to Be Held Outside the Pentagon

Remember the time when a stomach-churning video of the US Marines drinking cobra blood as a part of jungle survival skills in Thailand went viral? Well, PETA has planned to take a strong stand against it. PETA has urged the Department of Defense (DoD) to ask the Marines to stop torturing animals. They demand banning the troop from drinking cobra blood. In the video that went viral, the troops could be seen tilting their head back as the Marine Instructor dripped the blood from the snake into their throats. PETA revealed that they will host a protest outside of the Pentagon.

The animal-rights group has also urged the Department of Defense to tell Marines to stop drinking cobra blood as a part of their military exercise. the video had garnered courage even back then from the common people. For this multinational joint military exercise jointly co-hosted by the US and Thailand, Marines and soldiers undergo jungle survival training and this also includes decapitating cobras and drinking their blood and it is not limited to just this.

In February, PETA filed a petition asking the DoD to end the killing of live animals during the exercise. "During Cobra Gold, Marines and training instructors in Thailand kill chickens with their bare hands, skin and eat live geckos, consume live scorpions and tarantulas, and decapitate king cobras—a species vulnerable to extinction," reads the petition.

It further says: "Viable animal-free methods exist for this practice, which is both unnecessary to the survival of troops and that inflicts unjustified pain and suffering on animals." Because of the pandemic, this year’s Cobra Gold exercise has been delayed from spring to the fall. That means there’s still time for PETA to save the jungle animals. The activist group will begin protesting outside the Pentagon tomorrow at 12 PM, where—according to the press release–the group will carry huge photos of Marines drinking snake blood.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2021 04:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).