Manthan


Manthan: April 2005 Pratikriya (the Reaction) www.nihindia.org To: San Diego Animal Advocates From: Mukesh Kumar Hi! I am a biologist from National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD and was recently at one of your protests at the Experimental Biology conference. Watching your protest at the conference stimulated a wave of emotions and there is an article that I am writing for a group of scientists at NIH. The article is attached along with. Any comments will be highly appreciated. As you will see I am not a supporter but I would like to know what you feel about how I felt that day. Thanks and hope to hear from you, Mukesh ____________________________________________________________________ *info@animaladvocates.org* wrote: Mukesh, We are not at all interested in how you felt that day in San Diego, or if your vacation to our beautiful city was spoiled because you were forced to face reality. To put it mildly, your feelings are insignificant to us. Our attention was on how the monkeys felt with their heads bolted into restraints and deprived of liquid; how the dogs felt while being given heart attacks, how the animals felt being starved, mutilated, shocked, burned, and forced into cocaine withdrawal. Moreover, you--the researchers and the government that pays your salaries--provided us with the only materials we needed to ruin your day. Each and every piece of information we distributed at that protest was taken DIRECTLY from NIH documents, USDA inspection reports, and abstracts written by members of the societies attending that convention. There is nothing, ever, in any way, humane about experiments on live animals. And frankly, if you claim to “love animals,” we sincerely hope that you don’t “love people” in the same way. And if you’re not making enough money in vivisection, chances are it’s because the institution you work for is funneling it to the top--which means they don't value your work very much or you’d be getting a bigger slice. Perhaps you should look into another line of work, although we hasten to add that after reading your sad little essay we’re certainly grateful that you didn’t pursue a profession as a teacher of English, writing, or literature. We do have to thank you for the laugh you provided with your story of the PhD candidate who “thanked” the mice and rats who “sacrificed their lives” so she could earn her degree. Such a noble term, “sacrifice”...as if those animals ever had a choice to be tools in the academic publish-or-perish game. We’re sure her “thanks” meant SO very much to them. Please pass along to your colleagues that we hope they find other cities to hold their conventions in the future, because San Diego’s welcome mat for vivisectors has officially been rolled up and thrown out. The SDAA Board of Directors -- San Diego Animal Advocates P.O. Box 230946 Encinitas, CA 92023-0946 Phone: 760-943-0330 Email: info@animaladvocates.org Web: www.animaladvocates.org ___________________________________________________________________________ *Mukesh wrote back:* Thank you so much for your reply and your critical evaluation of my writing skill. Yeah, I am also happy I am not an "English" teacher as then I would have manipulated by people who would want to tell me how bad science is. Any way, your reply just tells me how little you guys know. Just by selectively picking a few examples from some scientific or pseudo-scientific literature, may you can justify your actions, but what good is it? If you really care for animals, try to put a little thought about the real cause animals are used in science, it is not to make "money" for anyone, rather to be sure that they are safe for everyone else. Yes, animals do sacrifice their life for humans, does no one in your organization eat meat or apply cosmetics or eat pills when they get sick? All these needed animal sacrifice. Animal experiments are not an option for biological research, rather a necessity developed after decades of drug development. If you really care for animals you would rather support development of alternative methods of testing, none exists at present. Would you rather have a few humans die using some untested medication or suffer because there is no treatment??? About animals, it is unfortunate that you do not care to even know how the people who work with them feel. You care for the animals, human feelings don't mean anything!! Humane use of animals is what is in every biologist’s mind. All you care for is branding. All my article writes about is the unproductive way you choose to do what you do, these protests can work only if you see both sides of the story. Any way apparently you don't care. Have a great day, Mukesh

Manthan: April 2005 Pratikriya (the Reaction) www.nihindia.org

To: San Diego Animal Advocates

From: Mukesh Kumar

Hi! I am a biologist from National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD and was recently at one of your protests at the Experimental Biology conference. Watching your protest at the conference stimulated a wave of emotions and there is an article that I am writing for a group of scientists at NIH. The article is attached along with. Any comments will be highly appreciated.

As you will see I am not a supporter but I would like to know what you feel about how I felt that day.

Thanks and hope to hear from you,

Mukesh

____________________________________________________________________

info@animaladvocates.org wrote:

Mukesh,

We are not at all interested in how you felt that day in San Diego, or if your vacation to our beautiful city was spoiled because you were forced to face reality. To put it mildly, your feelings are insignificant to us. Our attention was on how the monkeys felt with their heads bolted into restraints and deprived of liquid; how the dogs felt while being given heart attacks, how the animals felt being starved, mutilated, shocked, burned, and forced into cocaine withdrawal. Moreover, you--the researchers and the government that pays your salaries--provided us with the only materials we needed to ruin your day. Each and every piece of information we distributed at that protest was taken DIRECTLY from NIH documents, USDA inspection reports, and abstracts written by members of the societies attending that convention.

There is nothing, ever, in any way, humane about experiments on live animals. And frankly, if you claim to “love animals,” we sincerely hope that you don’t “love people” in the same way. And if you’re not making enough money in vivisection, chances are it’s because the institution you work for is funneling it to the top--which means they don't value your work very much or you’d be getting a bigger slice. Perhaps you should look into another line of work, although we hasten to add that after reading your sad little essay we’re certainly grateful that you didn’t pursue a profession as a teacher of English, writing, or literature.

We do have to thank you for the laugh you provided with your story of the PhD candidate who “thanked” the mice and rats who “sacrificed their lives” so she could earn her degree. Such a noble term, “sacrifice”...as if those animals ever had a choice to be tools in the academic publish-or-perish game. We’re sure her “thanks” meant SO very much to them.

Please pass along to your colleagues that we hope they find other cities to hold their conventions in the future, because San Diego’s welcome mat for vivisectors has officially been rolled up and thrown out.

The SDAA Board of Directors

--
San Diego Animal Advocates
P.O. Box 230946
Encinitas, CA 92023-0946
Phone: 760-943-0330
Email: info@animaladvocates.org
Web: www.animaladvocates.org
___________________________________________________________________________

Mukesh wrote back:

Thank you so much for your reply and your critical evaluation of my writing skill. Yeah, I am also happy I am not an "English" teacher as then I would have manipulated by people who would want to tell me how bad science is.

Any way, your reply just tells me how little you guys know. Just by selectively picking a few examples from some scientific or pseudo-scientific literature, may you can justify your actions, but what good is it? If you really care for animals, try to put a little thought about the real cause animals are used in science, it is not to make "money" for anyone, rather to be sure that they are safe for everyone else. Yes, animals do sacrifice their life for humans, does no one in your organization eat meat or apply cosmetics or eat pills when they get sick? All these needed animal sacrifice. Animal experiments are not an option for biological research, rather a necessity developed after decades of drug development. If you really care for animals you would rather support development of alternative methods of testing, none exists at present. Would you rather have a few humans die using some untested medication or suffer because there is no treatment???

About animals, it is unfortunate that you do not care to even know how the people who work with them feel. You care for the animals, human feelings don't mean anything!! Humane use of animals is what is in every biologist’s mind. All you care for is branding. All my article writes about is the unproductive way you choose to do what you do, these protests can work only if you see both sides of the story.

Any way apparently you don't care.

Have a great day,

Mukesh