Austrian scientists use live pigs in avalanche experiment.

From EarthTimes:

Vienna - Austrian animal rights groups protested Thursday against scientific experiments on survival conditions in avalanches that use live pigs. An international group of scientists on Tuesday started burying anaesthetized pigs in the snow in the Oetztal valley in Tyrol, where they suffocate or freeze to death, in order to learn about how people die in avalanches.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to kill these highly sensitive, helpless animals for such a useless experiment," said Johanna Stadler, director of the Vier Pfoten animal rights group.

The experiment under the leadership of university clinic for anesthesia in Innsbruck involves burying 29 pigs over two weeks, broadcaster ORF reported. Some animals are fully covered in snow, while others are buried to their neck.