Live pigs are being blown up with explosives at Britain's equivalent of Area 51 to simulate the effects on terrorist attacks on civilian targets.
The experiments are taking place at Porton Down in Wiltshire, the British government's secret military research laboratory.
After the explosives were detonated, the scientists allowed the pigs to bleed until almost a third of their blood was gone to see how long they could be kept alive.
Needless to say, animal rights activists and some MPs have objected to experiments, despite the pigs, none of whom survived, being anaesthetised.
Norman Baker, of the Liberal Democrats (surprise surprise), said: "These are revolting and unnecessary experiments."
Live pigs blasted in terror attack experiments
Marie Woolf, Whitehall Editor
The Sunday Times
January 24, 2010
"Oink, oink"......KABOOOM!
LIVE pigs are being blown up with explosives at Porton Down, the government’s secret military research laboratory, to simulate the effect of terrorist attacks on civilian targets.
In a series of tests at the biological and chemical research centre in Wiltshire, 18 large pigs were wrapped in protective blankets before bombs were detonated a few feet away. The scientists allowed the pigs to bleed until almost a third of their blood was gone to see how long they could be kept alive.
MPs and animal welfare groups have questioned the use of live animals in the explosions, even though the pigs were anaesthetised throughout. None survived the experiments.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said: “These are revolting and unnecessary experiments. Sadly, we are too familiar with the effects of terrorism. It is perfectly possible to find out things we don’t know without blowing up pigs to find out.”
Research papers, obtained by The Sunday Times, show that the experiments at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory were carried out because “blast injuries are an increasing problem, owing to the widespread terrorist threat”.
Porton Down in Wiltshire, the British government's secret military research laboratory
The blasts were meant to recreate the effect of an explosion in an enclosed space, such as the July 2005 attacks on the Underground and a double-decker bus in London, and had been designed to help medics control haemorrhaging from victims.
The pigs were wrapped in Kevlar blankets to protect them from minor bomb debris and placed less than three yards from the explosive. Before being blown up, they had tubes inserted into their blood vessels and bladders, and their spleens removed.
A major blood vessel in the abdomen had a wire put into it so the vessel was lacerated during the blast.
Porton Down, which has been likened to a British Area 51, is located not far from Salisbury, Wiltshire. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility, which tests newfangled aircraft for the British military, which is operated by QinetiQ. On maps, Porton Down has a "Danger Area" surrounding the entire complex. Porton Down is also home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, known as 'Dstl, Porton Down'. Dstl is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and the site is believed to be one of the United Kingdom's most sensitive and secretive government facilities for military research. In the early years of last decade it emerged that human beings themselves were subjected to experiments, many of whom died as a result. Friends and relatives of the deceased lobbied successfully for inquests into their deaths to be held. In 1974, a UFO supposedly crashed in the Berwyn Mountains of Wales - an incident dubbed "Britain's Roswell Incident" and which was the second most well-known British UFO "crash" after the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident - and its dead alien occupants were taken to Porton Down, according to a 1996 book by researcher Tony Dodd. Nick Pope, who was employed by the MoD between 1991 and 1994 to investigate UFO sightings, wrote two books in 1999 and 2000 about alien bodies being taken to Porton Down.
Porton Down said the research programme would help British soldiers exposed to bombs in Afghanistan as well as potential civilian terror casualties. Up to 94% of critically injured victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings were identified as suffering from “blast lung”, an injury that leaks over time.
A spokeswoman said that anecdotally there was already evidence that the research was helping to save lives.
“This work is part of our broad combat casualty care programme. Anecdotally, we are seeing evidence of people surviving because of this work,” she said.
Porton Down, originally set up to research chemical warfare during the first world war, uses a special breed of white pig that has skin resembling human flesh.
Scientists at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection questioned the validity of the tests, saying that the effect on an anaesthetised pig of a bomb blast would “differ substantially from those of a conscious human being”.
A spokesman said: “We understand the need to deal with the human tragedy, of which sadly there are too many cases. However, we do not believe that mutilating pigs in these horrific experiments is the answer.”
timesonline.co.uk
The experiments are taking place at Porton Down in Wiltshire, the British government's secret military research laboratory.
After the explosives were detonated, the scientists allowed the pigs to bleed until almost a third of their blood was gone to see how long they could be kept alive.
Needless to say, animal rights activists and some MPs have objected to experiments, despite the pigs, none of whom survived, being anaesthetised.
Norman Baker, of the Liberal Democrats (surprise surprise), said: "These are revolting and unnecessary experiments."
Live pigs blasted in terror attack experiments
Marie Woolf, Whitehall Editor
The Sunday Times
January 24, 2010
"Oink, oink"......KABOOOM!
LIVE pigs are being blown up with explosives at Porton Down, the government’s secret military research laboratory, to simulate the effect of terrorist attacks on civilian targets.
In a series of tests at the biological and chemical research centre in Wiltshire, 18 large pigs were wrapped in protective blankets before bombs were detonated a few feet away. The scientists allowed the pigs to bleed until almost a third of their blood was gone to see how long they could be kept alive.
MPs and animal welfare groups have questioned the use of live animals in the explosions, even though the pigs were anaesthetised throughout. None survived the experiments.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said: “These are revolting and unnecessary experiments. Sadly, we are too familiar with the effects of terrorism. It is perfectly possible to find out things we don’t know without blowing up pigs to find out.”
Research papers, obtained by The Sunday Times, show that the experiments at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory were carried out because “blast injuries are an increasing problem, owing to the widespread terrorist threat”.
Porton Down in Wiltshire, the British government's secret military research laboratory
The blasts were meant to recreate the effect of an explosion in an enclosed space, such as the July 2005 attacks on the Underground and a double-decker bus in London, and had been designed to help medics control haemorrhaging from victims.
The pigs were wrapped in Kevlar blankets to protect them from minor bomb debris and placed less than three yards from the explosive. Before being blown up, they had tubes inserted into their blood vessels and bladders, and their spleens removed.
A major blood vessel in the abdomen had a wire put into it so the vessel was lacerated during the blast.
Porton Down, which has been likened to a British Area 51, is located not far from Salisbury, Wiltshire. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility, which tests newfangled aircraft for the British military, which is operated by QinetiQ. On maps, Porton Down has a "Danger Area" surrounding the entire complex. Porton Down is also home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, known as 'Dstl, Porton Down'. Dstl is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and the site is believed to be one of the United Kingdom's most sensitive and secretive government facilities for military research. In the early years of last decade it emerged that human beings themselves were subjected to experiments, many of whom died as a result. Friends and relatives of the deceased lobbied successfully for inquests into their deaths to be held. In 1974, a UFO supposedly crashed in the Berwyn Mountains of Wales - an incident dubbed "Britain's Roswell Incident" and which was the second most well-known British UFO "crash" after the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident - and its dead alien occupants were taken to Porton Down, according to a 1996 book by researcher Tony Dodd. Nick Pope, who was employed by the MoD between 1991 and 1994 to investigate UFO sightings, wrote two books in 1999 and 2000 about alien bodies being taken to Porton Down.
Porton Down said the research programme would help British soldiers exposed to bombs in Afghanistan as well as potential civilian terror casualties. Up to 94% of critically injured victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings were identified as suffering from “blast lung”, an injury that leaks over time.
A spokeswoman said that anecdotally there was already evidence that the research was helping to save lives.
“This work is part of our broad combat casualty care programme. Anecdotally, we are seeing evidence of people surviving because of this work,” she said.
Porton Down, originally set up to research chemical warfare during the first world war, uses a special breed of white pig that has skin resembling human flesh.
Scientists at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection questioned the validity of the tests, saying that the effect on an anaesthetised pig of a bomb blast would “differ substantially from those of a conscious human being”.
A spokesman said: “We understand the need to deal with the human tragedy, of which sadly there are too many cases. However, we do not believe that mutilating pigs in these horrific experiments is the answer.”
timesonline.co.uk
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