Animal Testing and Vivisection
Do They Look Like They're "Enjoying" Life to You?
Published July 11, 2009 @ 11:08AM PT
Dr. Weindruch and his statistician, David Allison of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said the dieting monkeys were expected to enjoy a life span extension of 10 percent to 20 percent.
And later:
Scientists Use Pigs Instead of Embryonic Stem Cells to "Avoid the Controversy"
Published July 06, 2009 @ 06:39AM PT
This university newspaper article about experimentation at the University of Missouri's animal research labs in Columbia says much about how little thought people give to researching on animals--and to the fact that there are ethical issues with forcibly taking another conscious, sentient, living being and turning him or her into an unwilling test subject. The article begins,
Stem cell research has been considered by some to be the next area in science that could potentially produce life-saving cures, but controversy over the issue has limited research opportunities.
An MU researcher thinks he has found a way to avoid the controversy altogether.
Why I Didn't Dine or Race for the Breast Cancer Cure This Weekend
Published June 15, 2009 @ 07:50AM PT
. . . And What You and I Can Do to Fight Breast Cancer Humanely Instead
Some friends and acquaintances and even a local paper for which I write a column all took part in Susan G. Komen Foundation fundraising events this weekend, dining out at specified restaurants on Friday and attending a race on Saturday, all to raise money for breast cancer research. I wasn't a participant. I also haven't been a participant in or donor to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in several years. And the latter especially is not a decision I make lightly.
Farm Animals, on the Plate and in the Lab, and Human Hypocrisy
Published June 11, 2009 @ 02:09PM PT
A few days ago, the Los Angeles Times published an article titled "This Little Piggie Went to the Science Lab." And I owe a hat tip to both Google Search and Doris of About.com (whose differently focused take on this you should also read) for alerting me to it.
The article begins, "Watch out, little white lab mouse. Barnyard animals are gunning for your job." These sorts of remarks don't bother me when they come from animal advocates because I know they're made with sarcasm, with a deep sense of knowing; I myself have made them. When mainstreamers remark with such flippancy, however, I roll my eyes. The mainstream doesn't need any additional reinforcement of the idea that being cruelly experimented on is just a boring job, rather than an existence of confinement and misery, for any of these animals. Preposterous. But let's move on to the really perplexing part, shall we?
Slate on Animal Research
Published June 08, 2009 @ 01:44PM PT
I've not yet been able to bring myself to read the Slate series of articles on animal research written by vivisectionist Daniel Engber. So far I've only scanned. But my friend Mary, of Animal Person, did read it all, and much of her description of what she found and much of what she quotes are why I've avoided reading so far. I think I'm going to need to be in a place of calm (i.e., under the influence of a couple glasses of wine) before I delve in to Engber's series--because it seems a lot of his language and narrow-minded conclusions and assumptions are infuriating. (And anyone whose first instinct, by the way, is to write, "Bring on the PETA hotties!" in a comment thread, in response to respectful, adult conversation, gets an automatic mark in the "jerk" column for me.)
Whether or not you do take the time to read the whole series, absolutely do go check out Mary's overview of, and response to, it:
"Deconstructing Slate's 'Pepper' Series" (Mary published a short response to the first part of the five-parter when it initially came out too; see that here.)
A Mother's Loving Protection, A Father's Dedication: A Family Like Any Other
Published May 28, 2009 @ 06:39PM PT
From the Telegraph comes the most heartwarming, beautiful story of the day. And it's a tear-jerker. "Bird brain" is an insult I despise because it implies that birds themselves are unintelligent, unthinking beings when they certainly are not. And this remarkable story tells us that we shouldn't underestimate the size of their hearts either.
Animals in War: You Don't Have to Be Human to Die by the Millions
Published May 25, 2009 @ 01:43PM PT
The Animals in War Memorial in London, unveiled in 2004, bears the following as part of its inscription: "They had no choice."
"They" refers to the literally millions of animals killed in twentieth-century wars--horses, mules, donkeys, pigeons, elephants, glow worms, and camels among them. Indeed, "eight million horses and countless mules and donkeys died in the First World War. They were used to transport ammunition and supplies to the front and many died, not only from the horrors of shellfire but also in terrible weather and appalling conditions" (emphasis mine), a brief history on the monument's Web site explains--and that was only one war and only one set of animals among many different animals.
