Horrifying images have emerged of live pigs appearing to be used as crash test dummies.
The animals can be seen in photographs strapped into yellow children's seats with their front legs tied up at the top.
It is understood they were subjected to 30mph crash simulations, claimed to have been carried out by researchers in China, however this has not been confirmed.
The exact location – or when the incident happened – is not clear.
The animals – aged between 70 and 80 days old – are said to have been positioned in a seat, strapped in with various seatbelts, and mounted on a sled before being slammed into a wall.
Animals rights groups have condemned the actions, in which the study is said to have killed seven of the 15 pigs used.
It is alleged the pigs were denied food and water for hours before the 'cruel' study was carried out to "reduce excitement and stress".
Many suffered a range of injuries including bleeding, laceration and internal bruising, it is understood.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild , PETA spokeswoman Anne Meinert blasted the tests.
She said: "Letting intelligent and sensitive animals like pigs crash into walls in high-speed tests in China is simply cruel.
"It leads to broken bones, internal bruising, lacerations and horrible deaths."
Renate Künast, a member of Germany's Green party, added to the publication that companies genuinely interested in protecting children would use advanced crash test dummies rather than pigs.
It is claimed researchers justified the use of pigs by saying their anatomic structure was "similar" to that of human children.
According to the Mail Online , the scientists insisted they had followed U.S. guidelines for the use of laboratory animals and said their study had been approved by an ethics committee.
They said: "The injuries sustained by the tested subjects resulted in seven deaths. The common injury types included abrasion, contusion, laceration, bleeding and fracture."
PETA staged protests in America which prompted General Motors to announce the end of animal tests in 1993.
"It’s horrifying to look back now and imagine that animals were deliberately slammed into walls at high speeds in car-crash tests," the animal rights group said.
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