Thursday, February 07, 2008
Source: Guardian
"The Royal Navy used goats to test whether it was safe for sailors to escape from stricken submarines because their skulls are a similar shape to those of humans, the MoD revealed yesterday.
The little-known experiments to avoid submariners getting the bends were revealed in a written Commons statement by the defence minister, Derek Twigg, which also announced that the practice was to be abandoned.
Live goats have been used for decades at the navy's base in Gosport, near Portsmouth, as part of research into the effects of different degrees of decompression. The animals were placed into hyperbaric pressure chambers to induce sickness.
"They were never placed under water and they were not alone. Other goats were in there too," a defence official said yesterday.
Six goats were killed in the course of more than 400 experiments between 2000 and 2006. More than 120 were humanely killed after the experiments under Home Office regulations, according to the MoD.
The experiments were suspended last year. The French navy had already stopped using live animals for the research, the Dr Hadwen Trust, a non-animal medical research charity, said. Goats had suffered brain damage and other "hideous effects", said the trust's Wendy Higgins. "It is regrettable but inevitable that warfare causes human suffering but it is totally unethical that we should add to this the unnecessary suffering of innocent animals," she added.
Mike Hancock, Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South, said he was "absolutely delighted" by the MoD's decision."
Hey, at least they weren't alone. Nothing worse than a lonely goat, you know.
Source: Guardian
"The Royal Navy used goats to test whether it was safe for sailors to escape from stricken submarines because their skulls are a similar shape to those of humans, the MoD revealed yesterday.
The little-known experiments to avoid submariners getting the bends were revealed in a written Commons statement by the defence minister, Derek Twigg, which also announced that the practice was to be abandoned.
Live goats have been used for decades at the navy's base in Gosport, near Portsmouth, as part of research into the effects of different degrees of decompression. The animals were placed into hyperbaric pressure chambers to induce sickness.
"They were never placed under water and they were not alone. Other goats were in there too," a defence official said yesterday.
Six goats were killed in the course of more than 400 experiments between 2000 and 2006. More than 120 were humanely killed after the experiments under Home Office regulations, according to the MoD.
The experiments were suspended last year. The French navy had already stopped using live animals for the research, the Dr Hadwen Trust, a non-animal medical research charity, said. Goats had suffered brain damage and other "hideous effects", said the trust's Wendy Higgins. "It is regrettable but inevitable that warfare causes human suffering but it is totally unethical that we should add to this the unnecessary suffering of innocent animals," she added.
Mike Hancock, Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South, said he was "absolutely delighted" by the MoD's decision."
Hey, at least they weren't alone. Nothing worse than a lonely goat, you know.
