“Defence researchers often used animals to investigate the effects of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons on humans. This suit was custom-made for a pig, an animal whose skin, hair follicles, sweat glands, and fat composition are similar to those of people.” CWM

Animals as proxies for humans have long served as research subjects in medical testing and experimentation. During the First and Second World Wars and throughout the Cold War, the United States and other Allied nations conducted chemical, biological and nuclear experiments on non-consenting subjects as part of the militarization of medicine and the medicalization of war. Historically, the burden of medical research and medical advancement has been borne by the most vulnerable populations including soldiers, prisoners, children, the mentally ill, the poor and the racially marginalized.