PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently discovered that experimenters at the New Zealand government's Institute of Environmental Science and Research, in collaboration with personnel from the University of Auckland and the University of Otago, have been conducting bloodstain-pattern experiments in which live pigs are tied down and shot in the head—in some cases, repeatedly and at close range—just to see how the blood spatters from the bullet wound.
PETA is urging the University of Auckland to use only non-animal research methods like sophisticated manikins and computer models, which can better simulate the effects of gunshot wounds and provide human-relevant data to help solve gun-related crimes. It makes no sense for these experimenters to kill living beings in their efforts to help solve killings, especially when researchers have stated that "the history of forensic sciences has provided us with much evidence of the inapplicability of data obtained from studies performed on animal models."
Stop shooting live pigs!
