Scientific research and animals

Sir, – The news of a New Zealand research group shooting pigs in the head with a pistol probably reveals more about scientists than it does about bIood-splatter patterns ("Researchers shot pigs in the head to study blood-spatter patterns", September 16th).

Perhaps a better use for data of this type would be to include it in a wider behavioural study which asks what we can tell about the most intelligent animal on the planet from the range of experiments it is willing to conduct on other animals. – Yours, etc,

COLIN WALSH,

Templeogue,

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Dublin 6W.