Nov
11
Vegan News 11.11.09
- British scientists are inserting human DNA into nonhumans for “science.” They’ve given mice the Down’s Syndrome gene to study how the disease evolves, and grew a human ear onto the back of a mouse in hopes of one day growing human replacement organs in nonhumans. One researcher said, “It sounds yucky.”
- An update to the Sharon McDonough animal cruelty case in New York has McDonough’s son, Douglas, as the one who alerted police. “It was a concentration camp for the animals.”
- A man such as this would just as soon kill a human- then what will the authorities do? Larry Hartman, of Gaston County, North Carolina, is a killer.
- Actress, and BMW driver, Dominique Swain, dumped a box of unvaccinated eight-week-old puppies at a Malibu shelter. She claimed to have no money- not even for a small donation.
- Ozzie the Man, a racing greyhound, dies at age six. “The amount of fans he had was unreal. Australian papers even wrote about all of his races. I really miss him. He was way too young to die.” The maltreatment and outright torture of greyhounds involved in this “sport” is not mentioned as a cause of Ozzie’s premature death.
Kayla, thanks for commenting. I have to disagree with you, however. You’re not opposed to “unnecessary” animal cruelty as much as the next vegan. I’m a vegan, and happen to know many others, that, like me, believe there is no justification of animal research, in any case. Animal research is a fatal shortcut in the race for cures to diseases- science supports this, as well as does human morality.
Regarding the quote that you mentioned, it’s not “propaganda,” it’s mispunctuation. The stem cell expert claimed that, indeed, “it sounds yucky.” The rest of her quote simply justified the “yuckiness” for her and others, such as yourself.
That’s where I come in. To put the “vegan spin” on a story regarding the lives of nonhumans. Is this biased? Yes, we’re all biased in some way, aren’t we? Misleading? Absolutely not. I took part of a quote and used it to illustrate a point. My point being that the researcher found the process “yucky,” because it is indeed, yucky. We should have an aversion to causing unnecessary pain and suffering (not to mention fear) in non-humans. Not only should we have it, we should listen to it. Humans have a tendency to stifle what we know to be morally right, under the guise of “necessity” or “convenience.” The bottom line is that humans should not use animals in any facet. Just as we wouldn’t use an occassional human to test on, we shouldn’t use a non-human.
Vegans need to send a consistent message of veganism- that means the abolition of animal use by humans. Once you stop making excuses for the human use of animals, the reality of the situation will become more clear. We (humans) should not (ever) use non-humans (animals) for any (none) reason. Since that is our moral baseline, any excuse to the contrary is wrong. It is embedded in our society that humans are the superior species, which is why everyone thinks it. But can you fly? Hold your breath under water for extended periods of time? Run at speeds up to 70 mph? Humans are amazing, don’t get me wrong- but we aren’t superior. Unless your talking about creating environmental disasters, then we take the cake.
Listen, I’m opposed to unnecessary animal cruelty as much as the next vegan. I do happen to think that people are, in fact, different and more important than non-human animals, which might justify animal research in some cases. But regardless, taking research quotes out of context (which is as bad as misquoting) just makes you look like a desperate fool, who can’t win with facts so you’re trying to do it through propaganda.
The actual quote is:
‘”It sounds yucky, but it may be well worth doing if it’s going to lead to a cure for something horrible,” said Robin Lovell-Badge, a stem cell expert at Britain’s National Institute for Medical Research, and a member of the group conducting the study.’
This is a rampant problem in vegan communities and literature. WE CAN WIN WITH TRUTH AND FACTS ON OUR SIDE. We don’t need to mislead and spin in order to look better. So please, stop posting incomplete, intentionally-biased information. It makes our cause look bad to other reasonable, intelligent, compassionate people, who might otherwise be convinced.