Animal Rights

I need to share with you a situation that is infuriating. It's infuriating to me, and I believe it should be infuriating to anyone who values a civil society worth the name. Harassment drove UCLA neurobiologist Dario Ringach out of primate research in 2006. This was not just angry phone calls and email messages. We're talking about people in masks banging on the windows of his house in the night, scaring his kids. Without support on this front from other scientists or from UCLA, Dario abandoned research that he believed to be important so that he could keep his family safe. Since then,…
As promised, here's the video of the February 16, 2010 panel discussion at UCLA about the science and ethics of animal-based research, sponsored by Bruins for Animals and Pro-Test for Science. UCLA Panel on Science and Ethics of Animal Research from Dario Ringach on Vimeo. The video runs for about 2.5 hours, so you might want to grab a glass of water or a cup of coffee before you launch it.
The panel discussion took place, as planned, on the evening of Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at UCLA. The hall was well-populated, if not completely packed, with members of the UCLA community. (Honestly, for week 7 of a 10-week quarter, during a spell of lovely weather, I'm impressed they had such a high turnout of students.) There was also a serious security presence (which the university felt was needed in light of past instances where strong feelings have been displayed in more than just words). Both Pro-Test for Science and Bruins for Animals deserve huge props for all the work they put…
I was surprised to learn that the fringe animal rights activist group, the Humane Society of the United States, has formed the Humane Society University which was recently granted a license to grant bachelor's degrees in three areas; animal studies, animal policy and advocacy, or humane leadership. They also are licensed to grant certificates for graduate study in those same areas. Required courses are offered online or at their Washington DC site starting autumn term in 2009. All students, who must have attained junior status elsewhere, are required to take two courses: Animal Protection…
tags: Humane Society of the United States, HSUS, H$U$, cloning food, terrorism, animals, pets, false advertising, streaming video I have followed this video as it has been removed from YouTube and been suppressed several times due to legal bullying by the activist and terrorist organization, the Humane Society of the United States (H$U$). This investigative report, which appeared a couple weeks ago on WSB TV [channel 2 in Atlanta], reveals that H$U$ uses misinformation to trick the public into thinking they are donating funds to build local shelters for homeless pets, and to help rescue pets…
tags: HSUS, Humane Society of the United States, Animal Rights, terrorism, animal shelters, streaming video This video shows you a little information about the Humane Society of the United States or H$U$ -- is a tax-free corporation that supports terrorist organizations while pretending to the public that they raise funds to provide shelter to homeless animals. Terrorist? What can I possibly mean? Watch this video and find out ... [2:27]
Last week, scientists and their supporters at UCLA held the first rally of their new chapter of the pro-research organization Pro-Test. In addition to the various other accounts that have been published, Tom Holder of Speaking of Research has now published his own very comprehensive first-hand account of the event. Check it out. He has included quite a few photos as well, such as this one:
Hundreds of research supporters rallied on UCLA's campus Wednesday to protest acts of terrorism directed at scientists by animal rights activists. The event, organized by the UCLA chapter of Pro-Test, a group founded in Oxford, England to support animal testing for the pursuit of science, drew an estimated 800 people to the rally. A simultaneous anti-research rally only drew about 30 people. For continued discussion on the rally, ScienceBlogger DrugMonkey has an open discussion thread on his blog. Related ScienceBlogs Posts: Scientists and Supporters Rally Against Animal Rights Extremism at…
I hope you got educated before the UCLA Pro-Test yesterday. It went great - see the coverage by DrugMonkey, Nick Anthis, DrugMonkey again and Scicurious. Show Your Support for Medical Progress by signing the Petition for responsible animal research. Then go and crash this poll, despite it being flawed. And to continue our education on the matter, Janet has posted the 6th post and the 7th post in her series.
By all accounts, yesterday's UCLA Pro-Test rally in support of animal research was a great success. Up to 800 people showed up for the Pro-Test rally, but only 30-40 people showed up for a concurrent anti-research rally These numbers are particularly notable for two reasons. Firstly, the number of supporters of animal researchers greatly dwarfed the number of detractors, an excellent illustration of how large this hitherto silent majority is compared to the fringe but vocal animal rights activists. Secondly, the number of participants at the UCLA rally was similar to the number that showed…
The UCLA Pro-Test is tomorrow. If you live there - go. If not, prepare yourself for inevitable discussions - online and offline - by getting informed. And my fellow science bloggers have certainly provided plenty of food for thought on the issue of use of animals in research. First, you have to read Janet Stemwedel's ongoing series (5 parts so far, but more are coming) about the potential for dialogue between the two (or more) sides: Impediments to dialogue about animal research (part 1).: Now, maybe it's the case that everyone who cares at all has staked out a position on the use of animals…
The LA Times has an article today about the founder of the UCLA chapter of Pro-Test, David Jentsch, a neuroscientist whose car was torched last month by animal rights extremist. This point is particularly relevant: "People always say: 'Don't respond. If you respond, that will give [the attackers] credibility,' " Jentsch, 37, said in a recent interview in his UCLA office. "But being silent wasn't making us feel safer. And it's a moot point if they are coming to burn your car anyway, whether you give them credibility or not." Jentsch is right. The lesson of Pro-Test Oxford was that silence…
Via Tom Holder of Speaking of Research comes news that embattled UCLA scientists have formed their own chapter of the pro-research organization Pro-Test. And, they're already planning their first event: Following in the footsteps of the Pro-Test group in Oxford, UK, students and scientists at UCLA have pledged to stand up against the lies and misinformation of animal rights groups, and the violence of extremist organizations. They have formed the new group UCLA Pro-Test, which stands for science, reasoned debate and the belief that life-saving medical research must continue without violence…
When I heard the news that day ... Oh boy. I had received an email from a man whom I knew only as the father of a (now former) student. We had met once, a few years ago when his son graduated, and he gave me a very nice bottle of wine, which I shared with a select group of wine experts only last Christmas. The wine had aged well and was outstanding. He gave me the wine as a gift for having "done so much for his son" while he, the son, was an undergraduate student. It was true. I had done a lot for the young man. I had many long conversations with him about lofty sciency concepts, and…
On Saturday, animal rights extremists torched the car of a scientist at UCLA--just one more incident in a long streak of violent threats and wanton destruction of property. LA Times columnist Tim Rutten gets it right when he states: No sensible person dismisses the humane treatment of animals as inconsequential, but what the fanatics propose is not an advance in social ethics. To the contrary, it is an irrational intrusion into civil society, a tantrum masquerading as a movement. It is a kind of ethical pornography in which assertion stands in for ideas, and willfulness for argument, all for…
In an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post Wednesday, a woman dying of leukemia vehemently spoke out against animal testing in medicine, positing that scientists might have found a cure for her condition by now if "they weren't sidetracked by misleading animal tests." While acknowledging the unfortunate nature of the woman's situation, ScienceBloggers are criticizing her stance that animal trials are not beneficial or are somehow to blame for the woman's sickness, asserting the necessity of using animal models for drug research and reinforcing that researchers must proceed in ways…
Over the weekend, some readers sent me a link to a story that, presumably, they thought would be of interest to me, given that I graduated from the University Michigan Medical School back in the late 1980s. Specifically, it's a report that U. of M. has halted the use of dogs in its surgical training: Surgeons training at the University of Michigan Health System will no longer use live, healthy dogs to learn drastic surgical procedures that can save people's lives, the university announced Thursday. The anesthetized animals -- obtained from shelters -- were used to teach tracheotomies, how to…
The incident just reported an hour or so ago is unusual, but not unexpected or unheard of. A 200-pound chimpanzee kept as a pet and once used in commercials was shot and killed by police Monday after it mauled a woman visiting its owner and later cornered an officer in his cruiser, authorities said. Stamford police Lt. Richard Conklin said the injured woman was hospitalized late Monday in "very serious" condition at Stamford Hospital; her identity was not immediately released. Conklin said she suffered "a tremendous loss of blood" from serious facial injuries. source
Today, a court in Oxford found animal rights extremist Mel Broughton guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and sentenced him to ten years in prison for his crime. Broughton was arrested in 2007, after being linked to a failed arson attempt at Oxford's Templeton College (which followed a successful attack of Queen's College the previous year). I have written at length about the animal rightists' campaign of fear and intimidation against Oxford University (check out previous entries for more)--a campaign that escalated in 2005, when the ALF declared that nothing owned by the university is off…
This is your weekend reading - lots of it, some fascinating, some enraging, but perhaps if enough people are aware and scream loudly enough, something can be done: Assistance Monkeys, Ducks, Parrots, Pigs and Ducks ... Should the law protect them? More Follow Up on NYT Story About Assistance Creatures More Assistance Creature Follow Up - The History of Service Monkeys, Plus Monkey Waiters Newsflash! DOJ ADA Changes Leaked -- All Animals Set to Be Banned Except Dogs DoJ's Rationale Behind Banning Non-Canine Service Animals DOJ's Proposal and Rationale for Allowing Psychiatric Service Animals (…