Jul15
No More Monkey (or Cat) Business!
Posted at 04:27 PM | Permalink
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Comments (11)
Quick, what happens when you throw a stone in a pond of water? That's right, ripples form. Don't worry, we're not revisiting Physics 101, but that metaphor describes how phenomenal it is to see our actions generate positive consequences.
Check out this stone-skipping scenario: Last fall, an Israeli group videotaped hideously cruel experiments on monkeys and cats that were taking place at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, in which the animals were kept hungry and thirsty so that they would "work" in exchange for a few drops of water. Vivisectors drilled holes in the animals' skulls, inserted electrodes in their brains, and then strapped animals into restraint chairs, where they were kept entirely immobile for hours at a time while data were recorded. These experiments have been going on for more than 20 years, and get this: Our tax dollars—right here in the United States—have been paying for them, courtesy of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
When PETA received the video footage, we sprang into action, writing to the NIH, identifying influential friends who could nudge the Weizmann Institute, and setting up a petition so that concerned people everywhere could tell the Weizmann Institute what they thought.
And now, thanks to the massive outpouring of concern, Israeli academics opposed to cruelty to animals have started organizing and speaking out. Operating under the banner "Academics for the Protection of Animals in Labs," three hundred professors at Israeli universities have signed a petition calling for greater accountability and transparency for animal experimentation. In the words of one organizer, "What I am proposing is that there should be more transparency and supervision, and yes, also fewer experiments ...."
They're not monkeying around, and those are some serious stones!
Posted by Grace Friedan
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Comments
Yeah sounds like a good move, but these so called learned professors will be soon bought off by threats to their jobs etc etc. And these experiments will still continue for another 20years, thats providing humankind last that long..
Posted by: keith | July 16, 2008 08:50 AM
I am very happy to know about PETA. Animals suffer in Nepal too.
Posted by: Krishna Mani Baral | July 16, 2008 08:56 AM
That breaks my heart.
1.) because of how the animals are being treated
2.)because MY tax dollars support something I would never choose to spend my money on
I could never imagine someone drilling a hole in my Cocoa's head. That's my black lab/collie mix pound puppy. So precious, sweet and smart. If anyone ever treated her in such a way, I don't know what I'd do. I don't think it's right that our taxes fund such cruel experiements.
I don't think the world will ever be one big vegetarian place, BUT, hopefully this type of experimenting and vivesection will cease one day!
Posted by: Brandie R | July 16, 2008 11:52 AM
It's refreshing to hear somebody like Aviram pushing to take a stand on experiments so outdated and un-necessary!! BUT wake up NIH we don't need our tax dollars spent on these hideous "experiments" that have no value whatsoever to benefit anybody!! EXCEPT for the for the pricks doing it to the animals!! WHAT A SHAME this still goes on eleswhere in the world!! KEEP THE PRESSURE ON THEM!!
Posted by: Carla | July 16, 2008 12:23 PM
You'd have to have a sick mind to dream up some of those experiments. One day maybe they'll get a real job.
Posted by: Mike Quinoa | July 16, 2008 01:34 PM
Will it ever stop, yes it will when the well runs dry and there are no more tax dollars going to fund barbaric out of date experiments on animals.
Are these professors out of touch with 21st century medicine or just sadistic mf's that missed being in Nazi germany...You decide...
TELL THE NIH ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Posted by: R | July 16, 2008 01:44 PM
We're gonna get em Gracy. We are. You know God's gonna get em.
I think those young Israilies will stick to their guns. There stronger than you think. I really like the title "Academics for Protection of Animals in Labs" Very Good.
Posted by: Saucy | July 16, 2008 02:48 PM
i wish people could choose where their tax dollars go. i would NOT let my parents fund this. its inexcusable.
Posted by: Julie | July 17, 2008 01:21 AM
Dear R,
Yes, this will stop. Everything ends. Everything. Whether it is in an unexpected way or as planned, it
will be gone sooner or later. What hasn't? Lives, wars, species, the pancakes I ate for breakfast (joke :D), love, hatred, unions, global warming, friends, enemies, etc. You could go on forever. I actually had a theory of what would happen to humanity after the sun burned up but that has nothing to do with PETA so I won't posted unless you want me too.
Posted by: Zeta | July 17, 2008 06:51 PM
That's a very progressive and brave stand these academics took! SHALOM!
Posted by: lynda downie | July 20, 2008 09:32 PM
I love peta.
With all this waste of resource and mankind development drag attempts.
Posted by: David | July 21, 2008 06:11 PM