Pigs often get an unfair, bad rap and are portrayed as dirty, dense, lazy animals. However, these descriptions can’t be further from the truth.
Pigs are actually very smart and clean, and they love to play.
Sadly, humans exploit these intelligent animals by not only breeding them at an industrial scale for food1 but also by using them in cruel and unnecessary experiments.
Pigs in NZ have been used to:
1. Research ways to sustain, enhance and make more money for the animal agriculture industry.
Examples include research into:
- Maximising their weight gain.
- Decreasing feeding costs.
- Investigating how painful tail-docking is.
- Reviewing how they cope with different animal husbandry methods.
- Finding the most "humane" or "efficient" ways of killing (including gassing) pigs.
2. Investigate methods of controlling unwanted wild pigs.
Examples include:
- Studying the spread of diseases by wild pigs.
- Investigating ways of killing wild pigs.
3. Conduct forensic studies (i.e., studying blood-spatter patterns from gunshot wounds in live pigs).
4. Try and model humans in medical research relating to digestion, hearts problems, eye infections, nicotine injections and wound healing.
5. Teach students surgery skills and techniques.
6. Investigate xenotransplantation (transplanting organs, tissues, or cells from one species to another). I.e., pigs had had cells from their pancreas "harvested" and transplanted into human patients with diabetes.
Learn more about xenotransplantation here.
7. Conduct basic biological research into how intestines move, stomach muscles react to damage, oxygen influences gut microbes and how hearts function.
Auckland Island Pigs
NZ's renowned Auckland Island Pigs have been exploited for science in many ways. These pigs were discovered on a remote island and became desirable research subjects as they hadn’t been exposed to the pathogens and diseases that other pigs in non-isolated areas had.
Learn more about how they have been used here.
Places that use pigs for science in NZ include private companies, universities, and crown research institutes.
Pigs used for science in NZ are sourced from breeding units, commercial sources and farms, which can include teaching farms/facilities run by universities or other institutes.
Discover real-life examples of how pigs have been used in NZ below!
Studying the effect of certain lipids in formula on brain development
Piglets were kept individually and fed formula with different supplementation. After 18 days, they were killed.
Teaching students surgical techniques
Sheep and pigs were used and killed in teaching students.
Training students in surgical procedures
Pigs and sheep were used for training future surgeons.
Testing the effect of a shot to the head
Pigs were anaesthetised and shot in the back of the head from different distances. Effects were recorded and analysed.
Harvesting bladders to study contraction patterns
The bladders of six pigs were surgically removed under anaesthesia before the pigs were killed.
Testing the viability of xenotransplantation using islet capsules
Newborn piglets were killed for their pancreas. Encapsulated pancreas cells were then implanted into young mice, who were killed later to retrieve the capsules.
Testing measurement of specific proteins
Pigs were surgically fitted with an outside access to their intestine and kept individually for eight weeks. Digestive matter was collected over ten hours on one day, while the pigs had no access to food or water.
Studying wound healing treatments
Pigs were anaesthetised and wounded in 20 places on their backs. The wounds were treated differently and sampled over a month before the pigs were killed.
Studying the spread of bovine tuberculosis in pigs
Pigs were bought, and wild pigs were captured and distributed through two studies over almost two years. Pigs were killed regularly to dissect them for tuberculosis signs.
Developing a model for varicose veins
Blood vessels in pigs' legs were surgically altered, and some pigs were fitted with devices to measure blood pressure. After weeks of regular examinations, all were killed.
Testing how long you have to wait to shoot and eat poisoned wild pigs
Piglets were fed different amounts of rat poison for longer or shorter periods before they were all killed.
Testing how many cancer cells spill out during colon surgery
Pigs were anaesthetised and injected with radioactive cancer cells. Different colon surgeries were performed.
