HKTVmall parent firm under fire for testing how long animal heads can survive
Hong Kong Technology Venture Company slammed in open letter from Peta, but denies pets were involved
The Hong Kong Technology Venture Company, which revealed the project in its annual results on Monday, said it believed the research to be a world first that could be applied to organ transplants, potentially extending human lifespan.
“The related experiments have been conducted in strict compliance with local government regulations and the standards of laboratory animal ethics,” a spokeswoman told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.
“The animals involved in the studies are pigs and sheep, species that are commonly used in scientific research on organ transplantation.
“We noted that there are media reports with the insertion of pictures of experiments with cats, dogs and rabbits, and these are misrepresentations that are not related to the ... life science project.”
HKTVmall parent firm defends life science project
The company said the project had run for four years, adding that the experiments were conducted outside Hong Kong. It stopped short of revealing the exact location.