Animal Testing and Vivisection
The Love of a Rat
Published January 24, 2009 @ 04:24PM PT
Rats don't get a fair shake. When people hear that you actually care about a rat or a mouse--for instance, that you don't want to kill one who isn't a pet but who has shown up uninvited in your home--they look at you like you're crazy and scrunch up their face in disgust. And why is that exactly? What makes rats and mice, particularly rats, so different from other animals? So loathsome? So scary? We see and hear all sorts of negative things about them from childhood on (e.g., portrayals of rats in cartoons or movies as creepy and devious and "rat" name-calling directed at fellow humans we find despicable) and fail to ever, or often, question our preconceived notions about them. I've seen and heard even vegetarians respond to a mention of rats with automatic disgust. We don't often stop to consider that just like other animals--just like the dogs and cats whom many of us take in and just like the cows, pigs, chickens, fish, and other animals whom many of us refuse to eat--rats think, experience emotions, and suffer.
Some of you may recall that in an early December roundup ("Animals in the Blogs: 'Expendable' Animals, Global Warming, and More"), I linked to a truly wonderful post from Reformed Fast Food Mascot titled "Final Two Hours of a Life." It was difficult to read. And it made me cry. But I strongly recommend that those of you who missed that post the first time go read it now.
Then come back and watch the below video. This won't make you cry; you will smile and maybe even laugh. Rats feel, and they express affection and joy and playfulness, and not just with fellow rats. Don't believe me? Just watch. Interspecies relationships among nonhuman animals aren't as uncommon as many people think, but this one is quite adorable and may lead you to see rats a little differently. Maybe "just a rat" isn't a good enough response to the question of why we kill these animals when they show up where we don't want them or why we experiment on them in such terrible ways.
Rat Loves Cat
Animal-Based Research: Why (Really)? And What Are the Alternatives?
Published January 18, 2009 @ 07:50AM PT
Following are parts 3 and 4 of Animal Aid's film Wasted Lives (parts 1 and 2 were featured in Friday's post), exploring why we continue practices that aren't getting us anywhere (I'll give you a hint: one of the major reasons starts with "m" and ends with "oney") and what the alternatives are. Each of these parts is only a few minutes long, so you have no real reason not to watch and learn; please do.
Succinctly, from Dr. Ray Greek (author, with Jean Swingle Greek, of Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals, and onetime animal experimenter himself) in part 4: "From a scientific perspective, animal experimentation simply does not work. Animal experimentation does not help human beings who are sick get better. Animal experimentation does not help prevent disease or cure disease."
(Image from the Empty Cages gallery)
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Animal-Based Research: What Happens, and Is It Good Science?
Published January 16, 2009 @ 01:21PM PT
At the end of December, I linked to the first part of the Animal Aid (UK) documentary Wasted Lives. For those who didn't follow that link, here are the first and second parts--"How Are Animals Used?" and "Is It Good Science?"--with the third and fourth to follow:
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Animals in the Blogs: Killer Cosmetics, Vick's Dogs, Price of Poultry, and More
Published January 07, 2009 @ 10:10AM PT
It's been a while since I last supplied you with a roundup. Time to rectify that. Following are some great recent posts that I recommend you read. It's not a short list, but it's a very good list.
Activism as "Being," Not "Doing," from Steven at L.O.V.E.
The Price of Poultry, from the Eastern Shore Sanctuary Blog
New Year, New Hope, from the Reformed Fast Food Mascot
Topsy (remembering the elephant electrocuted by Thomas Edison), from the Grumpy Vegan
What Happened to Michael Vick's Dogs, from Animal Law
The Breeders' Paradox, from Alex at That Vegan Girl (and for clarification, no, Alex is not the "girl")
On Sentient Nonhumans and Language and On Sentience, from Animal Person
ARA PSAs: Attack of the Killer Cosmetics, from easyVegan.info
Resolve to Make 2009 the Year You Go Vegan, from the ALDF
Colossal and Consistent Failures Using Chimpanzees to Model Human AIDS from Animal Writings
Featured Ideas: Vegan School Lunches and Non-Animal Research
Published December 31, 2008 @ 08:56AM PT
It's the last day of voting for the first round of Ideas for Change in America! Have you done your voting yet? If not (or even if so), meander back to the post from a couple days ago on voting strategy (on what to consider when voting or removing your votes), and then get voting! Here are two final featured ideas for your consideration:
1. Offer Vegan School Lunch Options
This idea, in the Agricultural Policy section, calls for the USDA to facilitate vegan options in school lunch programs. This is not about requiring schools to eliminate meat, dairy, and eggs from their lunch programs; it's about also offering healthy, tasty vegan options, which would no doubt be eaten not only by vegetarian and vegan children but also by omnivorous children. In addition to all the supportive comments on this idea from vegans, it's been really wonderful to see support from (a) some non-vegans who recognize that these healthy options should be available for all children and that school lunch programs generally need far healthier fare and (b) teachers and students who agree. But we have to keep the momentum and votes going today, folks, because the numbers are close--spread the word today and encourage continued voting!
2. Increase Funding for Non-Animal Research Methods and Mandate Their Use
This idea needs a lot of votes today and tonight to make it to the top 3, and I'll let you read the text of this idea on the actual idea page, but I'm also going to ask you to do some other things to remind yourselves of why this shift is important. Watch some of the videos. See for yourself what happens. And use your vote, and encourage your friends and family to use theirs, to say it needs to stop. One very brief video is embedded at the bottom of this post, and preceding it are links to other videos.
And finally, if you've been convinced that any law could ever adequately protect these animals used in research and testing, go back and reread the post "No Justice for the Monkey Boiled Alive."
Video Links:
- Wasted Lives: How Are Animals Used? (The first part of a UK production, but what it shows and describes absolutely happens in the United States and elsewhere too.)
- The Test of a Civilization (narrated by James Cromwell)
If You Knew the Truth, Would It Make a Difference?
Behind the Mask of the ALF, For Rent
Published December 29, 2008 @ 07:15AM PT
Quick note this morning: I received word yesterday that the documentary Behind the Mask is now available on Netflix. Go here for its Netflix page. Or if you search for the film, note that its full name is Behind the Mask: The Story of the People Who Risk Everything to Save Animals. If you've ever wondered what compels people to break the law (and locks) to rescue animals, or why some activists lay their freedom on the line and take the name of the Animal Liberation Front to save animals, here's your chance to find out. Rent it from Netflix, or buy it directly from the filmmaker.
See a preview below and scroll to the bottom of this post for info on the photo above (edit: I meant to mention this and forgot--yes, there is much footage of actual break-ins and property destruction in this preview, but in addition to explaining the reasons for this destruction of lab equipment and such, the film itself shows and discusses far more than what you see in this clip, including details of what happens to the animals and individual activists' stories and motivations):
The photo at the top of this post is of Britches, who was taken from his mother just after birth so that scientists could study maternal deprivation, and whose eyelids were sewn shut so that the researchers could study blindness. He was rescued by the Animal Liberation Front in 1985. Read more of his story here.
Animal Writings: Scientific Flaws of Cancer Research on Animals
Published December 19, 2008 @ 01:21PM PT
In the last month, the Animal Writings blog has been featuring a series of brief posts titled "Substantial Scientific Flaws of Using Animals in Cancer Research," quoting various scientific articles and books by various experts. Included among the sources are Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, New Scientist, and What Will We Do If We Don't Experiment On Animals? Following are links to the posts.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10
