Manthan


Manthan: April 2005 www.nihindia.org One Beautiful Day in San Diego It was a glorious Sunday, sunny, not a shred of cloud in the sky, temperature about 70 with a cool sea-breeze of 5 miles. I was sitting outside the very beautiful San Diego Convention Center enjoying the weather, sitting on the stairs. The Experimental Biology Conference was going on in the Convention Center but who would want to be inside on a day like this. Sitting on the steps I noticed a musical fountain close to the Convention Center. It was an invitation I could not refuse. I had to go sit next to the fountains and enjoy the day. I got there and noticed a small crowd of about 20 people getting ready for something. There were a lot of white coats stained with some red paint, a few posters still in boxes, and quite a few Halloween masks. Most of the people in the group were young college kids (apparently) and appeared very excited about something. I was surprised. What were these people getting ready for? I was curious. They started putting on the stained coats, donning the masks and taking out the posters. It was then that I realized that it was a protest against use of animals in biological research. My curiosity turned to amusement. I had heard about this crowd before. They feel that use of animals in research is cruel, inhumane and, most importantly, avoidable. I have been doing research for more than a decade; I have worked with a few animals in my “short” scientific career. I pondered, “Was most of my work unreasonably and avoidably cruel?” Any way, I was enjoying the dressing-up of a protest parade. A little crowd was gathering around them, after-all where else would you see a bunch of Halloween masks in the middle of a sunny April day. A crowd of onlookers started forming around them. A few tourists started clicking pictures, something to add to their memories of sunny California. The protestors were enjoying the attention, posing for the photographers around them. Out came the posters. I got up from my comfortable seat to get closer to the group. I was curious about what they wanted to say. It was then I started reading the posters. “Mad Monsters Mutilate Monkeys for Money”, “Researchers, how do you sleep at night?”, “Science gone crazy, for money”. Quite a few of the protestors were dressed in white coats with red-stains, with masks of Frankenstein or balding, crazy-looking characters, with dollar-bills hanging out of their pockets. A few had stuffed animals held in nasty postures. It took some time for me to register all this. They were dressed-up like biologists with their lab-coats stained with animal blood, and who were depicted as crazy, greedy, scientists who torture animals for money! My curiosity and amusement were being replaced by anger. The day did not seem as attractive anymore. Do these people have any idea what they were talking about? I was kind of taking it personally. I am one of the people they are talking about. I am a biologist and I love animals and I have done experiments with animals. I don’t know any of my colleagues who would enjoy “torturing” the animals they work on. We do it because it is necessary, because it is a tested way to analyze biological pathways in living things, and because it is the only presently available method. Without animal experiments, modern medicine would not be possible. And biologists usually understand the responsibility associated with experiments with animals. We take care to avoid unnecessary pain, and use animals understanding fully well that it is a living being that we are working with. I remember one of my colleagues who used to bring special treats for her mice. She even dedicated her Ph.D. thesis to the numerous mice and rats that sacrificed their lives for her experiments. There are numerous instances like that. And Money!! I am confident that none of the protestors had any idea what an average scientist with about 20 yrs of education and several years of experience, makes. Otherwise they would be protesting to get us paid more respectfully! Any way, the protestors got ready and marched towards the gates of the Convention Center. The local TV and news crew materialized and it became clear they had taken care to inform the media about this protest. The protesters then gathered around the gates of the Convention Center and started giving flyers to every passing person. A few passer-bys accepted the flyers, surprised to see them and curious to read what it said, and a few refused. The protest leaders, the ones who were not dressed as Frankensteinian scientists, were busy giving interviews to the press. I wanted to talk to one of leaders to find out why did they made the scientists to be the main culprits? What did they expect to come out of this protest? That the scientists should stop working on animals! Any way, I did not know how to react, the scientist in me wanted to go argue with them but the realist in me knew that it would of no use; these people did not come here to hear from a common person like me. This is a free country and people have the right to say anything they want, even if it were unreasonable or untrue. Almost all the women among the protestors were wearing make-up, I could smell perfume in the air. I wanted to ask them if they had any idea how the make-up and perfume is tested to determine their safety in humans. At least one of them had arrived in a huge SUV. I wanted to ask her, if she knew how much gas her car drank and how much that added to the pollution. There were many questions but no apparent answers. Just then the realization dawned on me. It is not about getting anything done, they couldn’t be serious about that. They couldn’t even be serious about protesting what they were protesting about, because they apparently did not have even a faint idea about biological research. It was a beautiful day, these people were also here, like me, to make the most of it. With that I got up and went back to my fountain to recover the day that I almost lost. Mukesh Kumar mukeshmaryland@yahoo.com Please read the reactions of the San Diego Animal Advocates to this article and author's response.

Manthan: April 2005 www.nihindia.org

One Beautiful Day in San Diego

It was a glorious Sunday, sunny, not a shred of cloud in the sky, temperature about 70 with a cool sea-breeze of 5 miles. I was sitting outside the very beautiful San Diego Convention Center enjoying the weather, sitting on the stairs. The Experimental Biology Conference was going on in the Convention Center but who would want to be inside on a day like this. Sitting on the steps I noticed a musical fountain close to the Convention Center. It was an invitation I could not refuse. I had to go sit next to the fountains and enjoy the day. I got there and noticed a small crowd of about 20 people getting ready for something. There were a lot of white coats stained with some red paint, a few posters still in boxes, and quite a few Halloween masks. Most of the people in the group were young college kids (apparently) and appeared very excited about something. I was surprised. What were these people getting ready for? I was curious. They started putting on the stained coats, donning the masks and taking out the posters. It was then that I realized that it was a protest against use of animals in biological research.

My curiosity turned to amusement. I had heard about this crowd before. They feel that use of animals in research is cruel, inhumane and, most importantly, avoidable. I have been doing research for more than a decade; I have worked with a few animals in my “short” scientific career. I pondered, “Was most of my work unreasonably and avoidably cruel?” Any way, I was enjoying the dressing-up of a protest parade. A little crowd was gathering around them, after-all where else would you see a bunch of Halloween masks in the middle of a sunny April day. A crowd of onlookers started forming around them. A few tourists started clicking pictures, something to add to their memories of sunny California. The protestors were enjoying the attention, posing for the photographers around them.

Out came the posters. I got up from my comfortable seat to get closer to the group. I was curious about what they wanted to say. It was then I started reading the posters. “Mad Monsters Mutilate Monkeys for Money”, “Researchers, how do you sleep at night?”, “Science gone crazy, for money”. Quite a few of the protestors were dressed in white coats with red-stains, with masks of Frankenstein or balding, crazy-looking characters, with dollar-bills hanging out of their pockets. A few had stuffed animals held in nasty postures. It took some time for me to register all this. They were dressed-up like biologists with their lab-coats stained with animal blood, and who were depicted as crazy, greedy, scientists who torture animals for money!

My curiosity and amusement were being replaced by anger. The day did not seem as attractive anymore. Do these people have any idea what they were talking about? I was kind of taking it personally. I am one of the people they are talking about. I am a biologist and I love animals and I have done experiments with animals. I don’t know any of my colleagues who would enjoy “torturing” the animals they work on. We do it because it is necessary, because it is a tested way to analyze biological pathways in living things, and because it is the only presently available method. Without animal experiments, modern medicine would not be possible. And biologists usually understand the responsibility associated with experiments with animals. We take care to avoid unnecessary pain, and use animals understanding fully well that it is a living being that we are working with. I remember one of my colleagues who used to bring special treats for her mice. She even dedicated her Ph.D. thesis to the numerous mice and rats that sacrificed their lives for her experiments. There are numerous instances like that.

And Money!! I am confident that none of the protestors had any idea what an average scientist with about 20 yrs of education and several years of experience, makes. Otherwise they would be protesting to get us paid more respectfully!

Any way, the protestors got ready and marched towards the gates of the Convention Center. The local TV and news crew materialized and it became clear they had taken care to inform the media about this protest. The protesters then gathered around the gates of the Convention Center and started giving flyers to every passing person. A few passer-bys accepted the flyers, surprised to see them and curious to read what it said, and a few refused. The protest leaders, the ones who were not dressed as Frankensteinian scientists, were busy giving interviews to the press. I wanted to talk to one of leaders to find out why did they made the scientists to be the main culprits? What did they expect to come out of this protest? That the scientists should stop working on animals!

Any way, I did not know how to react, the scientist in me wanted to go argue with them but the realist in me knew that it would of no use; these people did not come here to hear from a common person like me. This is a free country and people have the right to say anything they want, even if it were unreasonable or untrue. Almost all the women among the protestors were wearing make-up, I could smell perfume in the air. I wanted to ask them if they had any idea how the make-up and perfume is tested to determine their safety in humans. At least one of them had arrived in a huge SUV. I wanted to ask her, if she knew how much gas her car drank and how much that added to the pollution. There were many questions but no apparent answers.

Just then the realization dawned on me. It is not about getting anything done, they couldn’t be serious about that. They couldn’t even be serious about protesting what they were protesting about, because they apparently did not have even a faint idea about biological research. It was a beautiful day, these people were also here, like me, to make the most of it.

With that I got up and went back to my fountain to recover the day that I almost lost.

Mukesh Kumar

mukeshmaryland@yahoo.com

Please read the reactions of the San Diego Animal Advocates to this article and author's response.