Cruelty campaigners grab research goats
Animal rights activists have broken into a military research centre and taken a group of goats.
Members of the Animal Liberation Front struck after dark, cutting through wire fences and bundling the goats into the back of a van.
Nine protesters each grabbed a small goat and made off across a golf course to a waiting van.
The group said it decided to take action after learning that the animals are used for decompression tests by QinetiQ, which runs the Centre for Human Sciences in Fort Road, Gosport.
The goats were part of a herd of about 50 kept by the company, an MoD contractor, in a fenced enclosure next to the Gosport & Stokes Bay Golf Club.
Police are now investigating the break-in by the ALF, which has a history of action against animal testing facilities and those connected with them.
A statement from the ALF members involved said: 'We had a tight time-scale as reconnaissance had revealed this to be a busy area, surrounded by military bases.
'The difficult decision had been taken to only bring in one removal van.
'The nine beautiful young goats all made it safely to their new homes, where they can live out the rest of their natural lives free from a crushing death in the hyperbaric chamber.'
The chamber is used for marine research. It simulates the decompression divers go through at varying depths and can result in the goats suffering from the bends, the effects of which include joint pain, visual disturbances, loss of balance, breathing difficulties, paralysis and death.
A spokeswoman for QinetiQ said the tests it carries out are under strict guidelines from the Home Office and can only be done on animals. If there was another way of doing these tests, the company says, it would not be allowed to use the animals.
She said: 'A small part of our business is dedicated to saving submariners' lives and ultimately that enables them to escape from submarines at depth.
'Our submariners are the best prepared in the world for deep sea escape.''
sue.wade@thenews.co.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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