Outrage as scientists bury pigs in snow to see how they

Outrage as scientists bury pigs in snow to see how they die« Date: 15 January 2010
By Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna
PROTESTS from animal activists have forced scientists temporarily to halt research that involved burying pigs in snow and monitoring their deaths.

The two-week experiment, in the western Austrian Alps, was trying to determine what factors made it possible for humans to survive an avalanche in an air pocket until rescued, without suffering permanent brain damage.



But activists called it cruel and pointless.

A total of 29 animals had been selected for the tests, but after protests yesterday, Herbert Lochs, director of the Innsbruck centre, confirmed the experiment had been halted temporarily.

Johanna Stadler, of the group Four Paws, said: "It is absolutely unacceptable these highly sensitive, helpless animals are killed for such an unnecessary test."

Gerda Matias, president of the International Union of Animal Experiment Opponents, said: "People are shocked and outraged that such cruel experiments can even be carried out in Austria."

In a statement on the Medical University of Innsbruck website, organisers said the experiment was ethically justifiable and had been approved by a commission in Austria's science and research ministry.

Mr Brugger said the study could help humans survive an avalanche and stopping now would mean those pigs that had already died did so in vain.