PETA In Uproar Over Pigs Shot In Head By Researchers In New Zealand
PETA, the animal activist group, is in an uproar Wednesday after finding New Zealand researchers had tied live pigs to a surgical table, then shot them to death in the head as part of an experiment.
Reportedly the research was part of a study on blood-spatter patterns, run to help understand human shooting deaths and to assist in criminal cases in New Zealand.
People for the Ethical Treatment (PETA) say the actions of the researchers were cruel, and they urged them to end these experiments.
However, the government run Institute of Environmental Science and Research insists that the pigs were sedated prior to the shooting and that they were treated humanely.
PETA upset over pigs shot in head during New Zealand study http://t.co/p8UWB4CTEH pic.twitter.com/nyzOuoouvw
— CTV News (@CTVNews) September 16, 2015
According to the Herald Standard, the group’s research, run in conjunction with two public universities in New Zealand, was published in July in the International Journal of Legal Medicine.
The study outlines how five pigs were shot at close range with a Glock semi-automatic handgun. This was done in order to record the back-spatter of the blood, bone, and brain material.
PETA insists the experiment was unnecessary and pointed out that pigs are fundamentally different from humans. They say more accurate results could have been achieved using mannequins or computer modeling.
Justin Goodman of PETA said, “These incredibly violent experiments are entirely indefensible, given their cruelty, inapplicability to humans and the superior non-animal research methods that are available.”
Goodman said PETA sent letters to the institute along with the University of Otago, where the study was run, and the University of Auckland, which contributed to the research, urging them to stop live animal experiments.
CTV News reports that according to Keith Bedford, who is in charge of the forensic science activities at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, they do use models and simulations wherever possible. However for this particular experiment on the pigs there was no other way to get the results they needed, adding that the work may be “critical in protecting someone’s liberty.”
“It goes to the ability to provide reliable, and the most informative, evidence in a court case.”
“It may be critical in protecting someone’s liberty.”
PETA was, however, glad to hear Bedford say that the New Zealand organization had no plans to run similar experiments with live animals again in the near future.
[Image: Pigs CC BY-NC 2.0 UGA College of Ag & Environmental Science]
