06/03/07
Taken from the Southern Daily Echo:
Goats used in Navy tests for 'the bends'
ANIMAL rights campaigners have demanded an end to the use of goats in
painful military experiments in Hampshire.
The tests, carried out by defence research company QinetiQ at a facility
in Alverstoke, Gosport, involve subjecting goats to extreme pressures
in sealed chambers.
The Ministry of Defence, which commissions the experiments, say they
are essential for researching the effects of "the bends'' to help
keep Royal Navy crews safe.
The results are used to establish "safe escape strategies'' for
submariners who are forced to leave their vessel deep underwater.
The MoD told the Daily Echo that QinetiQ carried out 57 procedures on
goats during 2006.
No goats died during the experiments in the first ten months of the
year, the latest period for which information is available.
But the MoD said over the same period eight animals were killed "humanely''
following experiments. Two goats were re-homed.
Since 2000, a total of 406 procedures have been carried out on goats.
The MoD, which has overseen hyperbaric experiments on goats for many
years, said at no time during the experiments are goats placed in or
under water.
A MoD spokeswoman said: "Research into pressure and time limits
for escape from a sunken submarine is vital to ensure that our Royal
Navy crews have access to the best possible advice and equipment during
their operational duties.
"The utmost care is always taken to treat the animals humanely.''
The MoD said it was "currently reviewing the need and scope of
further research'' as part of its contract renewal process.
It plans to make a decision on whether to renew QinetiQ's contract and
continue with the experiments later this year.
Tom Harris, spokesman for Southern Animal Rights Coalition, said: "We
are opposed to tests because they have been shown time and time again
to have little relevance to human submarine disasters.
"The goats are put into a hyperbaric chamber under pressure to
simulate deep sea conditions under extreme pressure to stimulate the
bends in the goats. It is very painful and we are calling for the tests
to end immediately.
"Just because a goat isn't killed doesn't mean it doesn't suffer.''
Last month about a dozen protesters assembled outside QinetiQ's testing
facility to protest against the experiments.