Why I No Longer Do Animal Research

I read it. all animals(including humans) are essentially different models of the same blueprint. That is why expeience with mice can foretell what would happen in humans. Would we rather experiment on human children than mice? It IS sad, and has meaning. Because they (mice) are our cousins (many times removed) but still, their life, their ambitions, their objectives are understandable to us - they are mostly the same. But if a cockroach crawled from beneath your bench, would you feel the same qualms? why not? One of God's creatures, seeking only to survive and live? Hey! but he's not a MAMMAL! One of the greater group to whom we belong. This is racism to the root. Escalate back and define. But problem is - it's a natural, built-in survival characteristic, and NOT wrong! So be sad, do what you feel right. That's your choice

Thank you Freda!

Yeah I liked this auto-biographical piece. It's quite difficult talking about pieces on the threads, cause you don't want to give too much away about the piece. But I got say a little here, as it it did move me. The part were you describe the attachment to the mice hit home, and it's why animal research is something I don't approve of. Some people might say: "Oh it's for humans, if we don't do this humans will get sick or die." But the poor animals have to go through hell, torture, just so a human might live. What gives us the right as a species to treat animals in such a way? As if they're inferior beings. Just cause they can't talk, build cities, or invent things, doesn't make them inferior to us. They're living breathing organisms that feel pain. A strong piece of writing anyway, certainly got me thinking, and showed the reality of animal research. Here's the link: http://www.abctales.com/abcplex/viewstory.cgi?s=22916

Well the open-endedness of it got through the cracks in my toughness where moralising wouldnt. Although it is autobiography I read it as a story. It IS a story because there is a conflict of ideas. If it was just someone saying this is right & this is wrong and then coming to the obvious conclusion, then it would be preaching. I hate it how some people die before they've had chance to live to the full, and I can see how research using animals might help. But I hate to see life ebbing away at an unreasonable pace, and this is most noticeable just on a physical level, whenever you have to pick up a small creature.

This was a tough situation, and I still have conflicting thoughts and feelings about it. I think that is why I wrote about the whole thing, trying to sort it out, but still not coming to any resolution. It was all sad.