An animal rights group has criticised researchers in New Zealand who shot live pigs in the head as part of a study on blood-spatter patterns.
The study, published in July in the International Journal of Legal Medicine, described how five of the animals were secured to a surgical table before being shot from close range with a Glock semi-automatic handgun to record the back-spatter of blood, bone and brain material.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed the experiment was unnecessary because pigs are "fundamentally different" from humans and better results could be achieved using mannequins or computer modelling.
"These incredibly violent experiments are entirely indefensible, given their cruelty, inapplicability to humans and the superior non-animal research methods that are available," said Justin Goodman, the animal rights group's US director of laboratory investigations.
The group has sent letters to the government-funded Institute of Environmental Science and Research, as well as two universities which contributed research, urging them to stop such experiments.
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But the institute said the pigs were sedated and treated humanely. The scientists said their analysis is important in understanding human shooting deaths and could help in criminal cases.
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Keith Bedford, the general manager responsible for forensic science activities at the institute, said that it uses models and simulations wherever possible, but that in this particular experiment could not get the results it needed any other way.
"It goes to the ability to provide reliable, and the most informative, evidence in a court case," he said. "It may be critical in protecting someone's liberty."
He said the organisation had no plans to carry out similar experiments using live animals, a point that the animal rights group welcomed.
AP
