Avalanche experiment with pigs

Animal rights groups yesterday condemned as "bizarre" and "macabre" an experiment in Austria in which 29 live pigs were to be buried under masses of snow to study human survival chances in avalanches. Several organisations threatened legal action...

Animal rights groups yesterday condemned as "bizarre" and "macabre" an experiment in Austria in which 29 live pigs were to be buried under masses of snow to study human survival chances in avalanches.

Several organisations threatened legal action against the Innsbruck Medical University, western Austria, and the emergency medicine centre in Bolzano, northern Italy, which organised the experiment.

Hermann Brugger, who is leading the study, said the pigs were sedated and the authorities had given their approval.

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