While many of us are actively doing rescue, fostering, spay-neuter and rehoming of stray dogs and cats, let us not forget that there many other forms of cruelty to animals as well.
Recently, I have been highlighting the horrors of animal-testing. While we may feel we are powerless to fight this, actually we are not. The links to petitions that I send out DO make a difference. A recent example is Lipton Tea which stopped its animal testing due to public pressure and a united voice of animal lovers calling for it to end its cruel practices.
A case from years ago was DKNY which stopped the use of furs in its line of attire. Unfortunately, I hear the company reverted to using furs again after sometime. Maybe the public needs to push for reforms again.
This morning, I received this email from Humane Society International (below). It highlights the plight of captive chimpanzees. Remember Planet of the Apes? Yes, it's about apes like Caesar and his friends - chimpanzees that are captured and forcibly separated from their families in the jungle and transported to laboratories to be used as specimens for testing human products, usually drugs. It is inhumane, cruel and often, brutal.
Before I cut-and-paste the message, I recall speaking to two scientists recently over the production of a drug. I asked if the first scientist if he uses animal for testing and he said he does, because that's the requirement of the authorities in that no drug can be passed for human use until it has been tested on animals. But IS IT NECESSARY, I asked the other scientist (a graduate from a world-renowned university in the US), she shook her head sadly and said no. But legislation requires it, so they have no choice. She says she even looks away whenever the animals are opened up for the purpose of testing. There were tears in her eyes when she said this. I do not envy her position; she must have seen so much cruelty in the laboratories...every day.
Legislation = Money. Sometimes.
We know the story, don't we?
And interestingly, the first scientist, whose background is in marine biology told me that he chooses to use prawns for testing, instead of guinea pigs, rats or monkeys. To him, prawns are lesser animals and quoting him, "you can slice up a prawn, they are not like monkeys, right?".
I beg to disagree, of course, but it does sound, in a way, the lesser of two evils. A prawn, is of course, NOT a lesser being, but I suppose at least, it won't look at you (or, we don't see?) with those pleading eyes that beg for mercy before you slice it up.
I'll bet the prawn has feelings, too as it is conscious, but we just don't see. I'm not condoning the use of prawns in place of monkeys or other mammals, but at least, this scientist is doing something to spare the mammals from the cruelty in the laboratories. At least he tries to minimise and look for alternatives.
It brings to mind, though it isn't exactly the same, how the Native Americans choose which animal to hunt down for food. They have to eat, they have no choice. But they always choose the weakest of the pack. And why is that so? It is to give the species a chance to survive and propagate, so the weakest is sacrificed. Hence, the choices are there, though not perfect. Yet, choices can be made. It is still an evil, but the lesser one, or the least.
But anyways, here's the write up about captive chimpanzees and what we can do.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now reviewing a decades-old rule that allows chimpanzees in the U.S. to be used for frivolous entertainment, invasive research, and as exotic pets, even though chimpanzees in the wild are protected as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. We need your help to protect captive chimpanzees from abuse and to promote conservation of this species.
Thank you for all you do for animals.
 Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO
We actually DO have a choice. Animal testing is NOT necessary.
The following quotes are taken from my new book, soon to be released for free distribution:
Christiaan Barnard, the South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant, shares his experience:
I had bought two male chimps from a primate colony in Holland. They lived next to each other in separate cages for several months before I used one as a [heart] donor. When we put him to sleep in his cage in preparation for the operation, he chattered and cried incessantly. We attached no significance to this, but it must have made a great impression on his companion, for when we removed the body to the operating room, the other chimp wept bitterly and was inconsolable for days. The incident made a deep impression on me. I vowed never again to experiment with such sensitive creatures.
I have studied the question of vivisection for thirty-five years and am convinced that experiments on living animals are leading medicine further and further from the real cure of the patient. I know of no instance of animal experiment that has been necessary for the advancement of medical science; still less do I know of any animal experiment that could conceivably be necessary to save human life.
Legislation can be changed. What is legal does not make it right. At the end of the day, life isn't about money or even righteousness. As simplistic as it sounds, life is about being kind to each other. When we are in dire straits, what do we hope for? Righteousness or kindness? Choose being kind over being right, and you'll always be right! Please do the needful and sign that petition to save the chimps. 
More Articles By AnimalCare
|
|
Member Login
