Military Conducts Taser Gun Tests On Live Pigs

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

Military Conducts Taser Gun Tests On Live Pigs
PETA: 'This Is Very Upsetting'

UPDATED: 10:15 am CDT April 7, 2006

SAN ANTONIO -- The Department Of Defense conducted testing at a local military base involving Taser guns and pigs.

The animals were used as part of an experimental study by the DOD at a research lab at Brooks City-Base in the summer of 2002 to test the effectiveness of various Taser devices.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, PETA obtained a video that shows how the animals were tested.

"This is (a) very upsetting video showing 11 fully conscious pigs being shocked with Taser stun guns," Laura Yanne, of PETA, said.

"They are shot with these 50,000 volts of electricity until they topple and convulse and are clearly screaming," Yanne said. "Although the audio was not provided by the Air Force."

The study could not have been safely conducted on humans, according to officials at the Brooks City-Base.

The Air Force Surgeon General's Office approved the study, which was in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee also gave its approval, officials said.

Yanne doesn't see the necessity of the tests.

"Tasers are already in widespread use and there's plenty of human data out there," Yanne said.

In a statement, Ed Shannon, a spokesman for Brooks City-Base, said the research "is vital to our nation's defense and saves the lives of our military's men and women." Shannon added that "they fully understand the effects" and that at times the military's only research option is through the use of animal testing.

No pigs died in the experiments and were used in other tests after the Taser study. Eventually, the animals were euthanized, Shannon said.