Money is the root of this evil
Our species lost its way long ago and vivisection is a symptom of the diseased way in which we interact with the world around us. Thanks to the twin socioeconomic foundations of speciesism and capitalism, vivisectors, their patrons, and their beneficiaries are, in many instances, psychologically, legally, and socially “justified,” and their despicable efforts are highly lucrative, thus ensuring the malignant persistence of vivisection.
Despite exciting breakthroughs in genetics and other areas of science, and the rapid development of technologies that make vivisection antiquated and obsolete, it persists, not because it brings “truth,” but rather because it is highly profitable up and down throughout the long chain of “research.” There is tremendous peer-pressure and academic inertia to continue confining and torturing other sentient beings without their consent for several reasons, but aside from the facts that vivisection is a deeply entrenched orthodoxy which is handed down from one generation of researchers to the next and that nonhuman animal research is easily published (no small incentive to practice it in the ‘publish or perish’ environments of universities), vivisection generates and protects income.
While many vivisectors and their supporters assert that nonhuman animal research is a noble endeavor that has saved millions of human animal lives over the years, the reality is that vivisection is an undeniably cruel practice that produces abysmal results.
Yet, vivisection continues to be highly regarded and heavily promoted within the mainstream medical and scientific communities, as many universities have come to depend mightily upon the multi-million dollar grants they receive to fund nonhuman animal research, even that which is frivolous or redundant. Take UCLA for example. At the time of this writing, it is widely known that one of their despicable vivisectors, David Jentsch, addicts vervet monkeys to PCP and methamphetamines, an obviously perverse thing to do to another sentient being. Yet Jentsch and UCLA are pressing on, even in the face of militant direct action undertaken by groups like the Animal Brigade and the Justice Department.
For a more detailed examination of the graft that propels universities to continue torturing nonhuman animals, read “Granting Wishes: The Truth Behind Why We Vivisect Animals”[10] by Michael Budkie, the director of Stop Animal Exploitation NOW.
Big Pharma, one of the largest supporters and beneficiaries of nonhuman animal research, uses its significant influence—an influence derived from deep pockets and even deeper incestuous relationships with legislators, government regulators, peer-reviewed medical journals, publicly funded institutions, and doctors[11]—to sustain the lie that it would be impossible to innovate and market new prescription drugs without vivisection. Poison Pill, a book by Tom Nesi, provides an industry insider’s deconstruction of how Merck was able to bring Vioxx, a drug that has potentially killed tens of thousands of people, to market.[12] To these leviathan pharmaceutical corporations, vivisection’s barbarity and inefficacy are irrelevant. To ensure the uninterrupted flow of their immense profits, they need scientists to torture and murder nonhuman animals to accelerate the drug approval process, to give consumers the illusion of safety, and to shield themselves from tort liability.[13]
And let’s not forget the host of ancillary business entities that exploit nonhuman animals via vivisection to generate their sacrosanct profits. These include companies that breed (or capture) and sell nonhuman animal research subjects to vivsectors,[14] companies that perform vivisection as a form of outsourcing,[15] cage manufacturers, scientific equipment makers, and many others. There are droves of people who are more than happy to enable the intense suffering of sentient being so they can reap their profits.
Excrement by any other name would smell as foul….
Like most corrupt and malevolent industries (i.e. agribusiness and tobacco), the animal research complex has its own corporate-financed front groups to peddle its propaganda to the public, extolling its alleged virtues and justifying its miserable existence. Americans for Medical Progress is one such group. Their website states:
“Americans for Medical Progress (AMP) protects society’s investment in research by nurturing public understanding of and support for the humane, necessary and valuable use of animals in medicine. Threats by animal rights extremists hurt medical progress. AMP provides accurate and incisive information to foster a balanced public debate on the animal research issue, ensuring that among the voices heard are those whose lives have been touched by research and those who work in the field. Through various specialty publications, outreach initiatives and the media, AMP informs the public of the facts of animal-based research. AMP also distributes timely and relevant news, information and analysis about animal rights extremism to the research community through its news service. AMP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity supported by the nation’s top universities, private research facilities, research-related businesses, scientific and professional societies, as well as by foundation grants.”
Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Wyeth, and GlaxoSmithKline have representatives on AMP’s board of directors to protect the interests of Big Pharma. Charles River Laboratories, the vivisection industry’s number one supplier of nonhuman animals for testing, has been described as the “General Motors of the laboratory animal industry.” According to SourceWatch, nearly all of the corporations and universities on the board of AMP have been under fire for serious animal welfare violations.[16]
AMP also supports the allegedly grassroots group, Speaking of Research, which held a rally supporting vivisection at UCLA on April 22, 2009. In that nauseating spectacle the unapologetic monkey-torturer, David Jentsch, and industry shill Tom Holder, the “founder” of Speaking of Research and a “founding member” of Pro-Test in the UK, whipped a crowd of adoring sycophants into a frenzy with a chant calling for animal testing.
Speaking of Research’s website states that they are a “campus-oriented group that seeks to provide university students and faculty with accurate information and resources about the importance of animal research in medical science.”
It goes on to state:
“Inspired by the successful British student movement “Pro-test” (www.pro-test.org.uk), Speaking of Research aims to change the tide of the controversial animal rights debate by encouraging students and scientists to speak out in favor of the lifesaving research developed with animals.
Pro-test’s experiences have shown that an informed public will rally together against animal rights extremism and come out to support scientists in their use of animals in lifesaving biomedical research. Recent polls in the UK suggest that public support for animal research for medical purposes has reached nearly 90%. Consequently animal rights groups have seen a decline in support, leading to a decline in extremist actions. Speaking of Research seeks to mobilize American universities to make the same stand against animal rights extremists and the misinformation they spread. We aim to encourage students and scientists to raise their heads above the parapet in open support of scientists and their research.
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