Posted on the 7th February 2008
After years of conducting experiments on goats to determine the effects of extreme pressure and the ‘Bends’ on submarine crews, the MoD has bowed to pressure from MPs, the Southern Animal Rights Coalition and other animal rights campaigners and announced that these experiments will stop.
The MoD commissioned a company called QinetiQ to conduct the tests which involved placing goats into hyperbaric chambers, where the pressure was increased or decreased to extreme levels, in order to simulate an emergency aboard a submarine.
The goats suffered excruciating pain and the collapse of vital organs, as well as extreme fear and stress. It is believed that several hundred goats have been used over 10 years, and that those who survived the experiments were killed and dissected.
Following the rescue of nine goats from a MoD facility in 2006, animal campaigners and MPs put pressure on the MoD to stop the experiments. After just a few months, the MoD announced a review of the situation and finally made this statement on Tuesday 5 February 2008:
‘The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has today announced the end of its immediate requirement for testing on live goats as part of its hyperbaric research in support of the MoD’s Submarine Escape Rescue and Abandonment System (SMERAS)… and the review has concluded that the remaining associated areas of uncertainty in submarine escape and rescue relate to events that are considered highly unlikely, and do not therefore need to be addressed by means of animal testing.’
It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Professor Benjamin Zephaniah. A wonderful friend and compassionate voice for all animals, Benjamin was an amazing supporter of Animal Aid for many decades....
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