| G'day Simon
The key issues are:
1. Ray Hoser is not a qualified or licensed veterinarian
2. The animals are not anaesthesized or given pain medication
3. By his own admission he undertook these 'experiments' in the expectation of killing animals
4. There are laws prohibiting cruelty and deliberate infliction of pain
5. There are laws prohibiting unqualifed persons from performing surgical procedures on animals
In the ARP's case they have always used highly qualified veterinarians to carry out any procedures on their animals. They also respect their animals sufficiently to use appropriate anaesthesia and pain reduction.
Hoser claims to be the 'first' to actually carry out surgical removal of venom glands, and like most of his claims this is based solely on the fact that he lives in a universe of one. Several years ago when one of Rob Bredl's inland taipans developed an infected venom gland, he had the glands successfully removed by a veterinarian from James Cook University - without needing to crow about it or seek undue "look at me, I'm so wonderful" attention.
I know of several other cases of surgical removals being carried out for research purposes - typically to obtain gland tissue for use in cDNA library creation for venom research, and all have been performed by qualified veterinarians using appropriate techniques, anaesthesia and so on.
The issue therefore is not the removal of venom glands - but the butchery of snakes by an unqualified individual, without anaesthesia - an individual who anticipated killing some or all of the snakes he carved up, and didn't give a s@*t. He deserves prosecution by the RSPCA, and both he and his mates should have their keeping licences immediately suspended.
Cheers
Dave | 
