Category Archives: vivisection

Rat Trap

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Another scientist speaks out against vivisection!

Rat Trap by Dr Pandora Pound

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We have been supporters of Safer Medicines for many years so as soon as we saw this book by their Research Director, Dr Pandora Pound, we snapped it up.

It is a very well-written, easy to read book, full of all the information we need to know in our fight against vivisection. It is clearly and eloquently laid out and comes complete with many many citations.

I love the excitement and optimism the book has inspired:

“Rat Trap ends the debate about animal research once and for all. She shows that, far from being a necessary evil, it is one of the most important and urgent scientific issues of our time.

“Animal research harms patients and holds back medical progress. Superior technologies based on human biology could transform medicine if not for the iron grip of animal research.

“Rat Trap is dynamite! It blows the lid off decades of dogma.”

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While we’re on the subject, the following video from 2019 is well worth half an hour of your time 🙂 (it is just a calm conversation, there are no disturbing images or descriptions).

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NB The pro-vivisection website Understanding Animal Research, criticised this video in an attempt to discredit Dr Greek (a board-certified anesthesiologist) by calling him a ‘conspiracy theorist’ and ‘science denialist’. So it’s very interesting that what Dr Pound tells us in Rat Trap about her personal experience as a scientist, and her research into this topic, corresponds with Dr Greek’s research and experience, and that of his wife and co-author, Jean Swingle Greek, who is a veterinary surgeon. Their findings were published over twenty years ago in their book Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals.

Rat Trap by Pandora Pound
Highly recommended.
Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: the human cost of experiments on animals by Ray Greek MD and Jean Swingle Greek DVM
Another brilliant book on the subject which we have read several times and can highly recommend.

Anti-Vivisection Book Trailer

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Let the dogs out is a graphic novel that tells the story of a laboratory beagle’s escape, in his own words. The images are all hand-painted and, while the story is at times distressing, it is suitable for readers aged 12 and up.

It is based on insider accounts of conditions inside a laboratory breeding facility and comes complete with detailed sources and information on how to help laboratory animals.

Let the dogs out is available from all good bookshops and can be read for free here.

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Violet's Vegan Comics - creating funny, exciting and often enlightening vegan children's stories since 2012

Violet’s Vegan Comics – creating funny, exciting and often enlightening vegan children’s stories since 2012

Great News! – Leading Vet School Ends Deadly Animal Labs!

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ending animal experiments in vet schools

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has been working for years to end the use of animals in “terminal” training exercises at veterinary schools—in which students perform procedures on otherwise healthy animals, who are then killed. Today they are happy to report that one of the nation’s highest-ranked vet schools, Colorado State University, has officially ended the use of terminal labs!

The PCRM first became involved in this issue in February 2020, when a CSU vet student contacted them. The student was shocked to learn that the curriculum included courses in which students would perform invasive surgical procedures on sheep, pigs, and horses. At the end of the training exercises, the animals were killed.

After receiving documents from CSU through the state’s open records law, the PCRM reached out to the dean of the veterinary school and were happy to hear that they were “also committed to the goal of eliminating terminal procedures.”

Over the last two years, the PCRM have worked closely with CSU leaders, alumni, students, and faculty at other veterinary schools to provide useful information and support as the university has made this transition. CSU leaders deserve immense credit for this change: To replace terminal labs, they have increased student exposure to surgical skills that are foundational to veterinary medicine, provided greater opportunities for repetition and practice, and expanded student access to real-world surgical experiences involving animals in need of procedures. This will make CSU graduates not only more compassionate but also more skilled.

CSU’s decision follows the elimination of terminal dog labs by Tuskegee University and Auburn University in 2021, which came about following work by the Physicians Committee. We hope this trend will send a clear message to vet schools elsewhere that terminal training labs can and should be replaced.

The Physicians’ Committee give special thanks to their Remembering Rodney Society members for this victory. Like the countless dogs, cats, pigs, and other animals used in terminal labs, Rodney was a sweet and loving dog who suffered through multiple painful veterinary training procedures before being killed. Members of the Remembering Rodney Society keep his spirit alive by providing the monthly support that allows the Physicians Committee to save animals day after day. You can help them save the “Rodneys” who still suffer in research, testing, and training programs by joining the society today.

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Want to know more? Read about Hugo’s lucky escape from a laboratory breeding facility in Let the dogs out, a graphic novel (with a happy ending) on our stories for teens and up page.

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Violet’s Vegan Comics creating funny, enlightening and sometimes action-packed vegan children’s books for readers of all ages, since 2012.