We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals.  Animals suffer as much as we do.  True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them.  It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it.  Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.  ~  Albert Schweitzer, "The Philosophy of Civilization."

Albert Schweitzer died before I was born.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like much has changed since he wrote the quote above.

In yesterday's post "Is Splenda Vegan?" I mentioned that Splenda had been tested on animals. Thanks to FoodEater of  To Live and Eat in LA for pointing out that was a gross understatement that is.  She provides links to the campaign Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC).  Huntingdon is Huntingdon Life Sciences, an animal testing facility based in London, with facilities in the US and Japan as well.

According to SHAC, researchers estimate that 12,800 animals were killed in the testing of sucralose (Splenda).  We used to jokingly refer to Splenda as "Splendid," but between the animal abuse and the mixed , I don't expect we'll ever say that agin.

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." ~ Pythagoras (500 BC)

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As the eyes of the world turn towards Washington for the changing of the guard, the vegan community will very likely have high hopes for the new "regulatory czar," Cass Sunstein.  Sunstein will head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which regulates, among many other agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency.  Hmmm....

For those of you who don't pay too much attention to US politics, Sunstein is a Harvard University Law School professor and author of "Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions."  (If you click on the link it will take you to Amazon, where you can read an excerpt.)  I haven't read the book yet, but I did order it...   Sunstein will have his hands full with many other issues, but he has stood up and argued for animal rights in the (recent) past.

It will be interesting to see what changes Sunstein will promote in the avenue of animal rights.

For further reading:

• Sunstein, Cass R.,The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer(August 2002). U Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper No. 157; U of Chicago, Public Law Research Paper No. 30.  (This will bring up the abstract, you can download the entire paper via a link at the top of their page.)
• Associated Press - Sunstein Appointed Regulatory Czar
• The Wall Street Journal re: Sunstein.
• ABA Jouranl - Lawyers Who May Run America
• What the other side is saying:  Opposing Views

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If you've been reading this blog for a bit, you've probably noticed that we don't focus much on animal rights/animal welfare.  For the most part, Jane and I came to veganism through a desire for better health.  And so our focus is health, food, and lifestyle.  As time has gone by, the health reasons that motivated us to become vegan in the first place have become less dominant; the thought of eating meat again has become abhorrent.  And so, we dip our toes into the issue of anti-vivisection.

Gary, over at Animal Writings has been authoring a difficult series of late.  It's all about the horrors of animal testing, from the abysmal treatment of the animals themselves to the inaccuracies of using animals to determine how drugs/procedures will impact humans.  One of the resources he's used is a book called Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals.  My library had a copy, and so I borrowed it.  It's been sitting on the coffee table and every night or two I pick it up, only to put it down again.  That's no criticism of the book.  I'm just not sure I want to know more!

Coincidentally, when I picked up the book this evening, I opened to this quote:

There are, in fact, only two categories of doctors and scientists who are not opposed to vivisection: those who don't know enough about ti, and those who make money from it.

-- Dr. Werner Hartinger, MD 1989

The truth is it's a painful issue to think about. Most of us would rather not consider where our food comes from or how our medications are tested.   The scary thing is that this book professes (and documents) that animal testing is unnecessary and causes harm to both animals and humans.  So we're  perpetrating barbarism and cruelty for no reason.

In order to evolve as a species, we must treat all sentient beings with respect.  It's time.

For more information on anti-vivisection see:

• Animal Writings
• Our post - An End To Animal Testing?
• The Environmental Defense Funds blog post on High Throughput In Vitro Testing
• Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing Newsletter
• American Anti-Vivisection Society

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I was having a discussion with a co-worker today.  She's getting a puppy and she's so excited she's already picked out his name.  This sounds rather reasonable (fun even), until we get to the part where she mentions she doesn't know when she'll be picking him up; she's buying her dog from a breeder.  She wants a male dog and there are only females in this litter.  The best male puppy is already spoken for in the next litter, so it's possible she'll have to wait until spring.  I guess those are the joys of buying from a breeder.

Turns out she's not alone.  Our soon-to-be Vice President, Joe Biden, just got himself a German Shepherd puppy from a breeder.  He's got "the pick of the litter."  (Source: CNN.)

I don't understand.  With all the loving animals stranded in shelters, why do we need breeders at all?  Sure there are some breeds that are more "desirable" than others.  I understand that Labs are one of the most family friendly dogs you can get.   If you have to have a particular breed, why not consider a rescue rather than a puppy?  Tens of millions of "pets" are destroyed in the US annually.  Buying an animal seems like a waste to me.

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