Abolish Animal-based experiments/testing

To: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

I am petitioning you to please abolish the archaic and barbaric practice of experimentation on animals in Canadian laboratories, a dark and enduring stain on humanity.  My sense of you is that your idealism is not due entirely to your youth, but more to your integrity… your strong sense of right from wrong, coupled with your willingness and desire to fight for what you believe in makes you a prime candidate to be the forerunner to lead us to a much truer civilization, where we care for, protect and respect animals as the glorious beings in their own right that they are.  

I, like many others, have so much respect and gratitude for the animal kingdom, but, unfortunately, there are many who exploit them for their similar (to ours) body organs and systems (cardiovascular, respiratory, etc.) and subject them to unimaginably cruel experiments “in the name of science”.  Peta (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals; Peta.org) have gone undercover and exposed the behind locked doors everyday practice of animal-based experimentation, and it is not what decent people think it is at all.  There is no sweet nurse coming by with Rover’s cancer pill, to see how he’s feeling today.  (Please visit Peta.org and choose Videos, then select "Animal Experimentation", then scroll down to find “Testing… one, two, three” and “Free me” for two very enlightening examples.)  

Any natural, meaningful life these animals might have enjoyed is completely displaced with a life of misery and shame.   (See the dog’s facial expression in “Free me”.  He thinks he’s being punished, but he doesn’t know why… shame that belongs to us.)  They only know fear, pain, anxiety and loneliness, caged indefinitely, at the mercy and utter disposal of “people” (and this must be the scariest thing of all) who do not even recognise them as being sentient with intelligent minds.  Imagine being treated like a science project, immobilized and subjected to excruciating pain by a seeming “sociopath” (no empathy whatsoever) who is concerned not with your pain or terror, but only with documenting the results of the damage.  There is no “you”… you are reduced to cells and tissue and organs, but living!  A common test, for example, how caustic is a given chemical?... it is dripped into the eye of a living rabbit and then measured how long it takes the chemical to burn away the cornea of the defenseless, tortured animal.  

How these barbaric experiments ever started is hard to understand and is equally chilling.  It was not ok for Jeffrey Dahmer (serial killer who maimed and used subjects for his own purposes) and it is not ok “in the name of science”.   I suppose there will always be Jeffrey Dahmer types:  evil and mental health issues, but they cannot be legal; it is only reasonable that they be classified as the criminal acts that they are. We have to get it right.  We do NOT use Jews, Blacks, fetuses, mentally retarded, animals or anyone else who we may think that at any given time are at our disposal.  In essence, we are “mutilating our baby brother’’ (not good for either of us), for that is what they are. It would apparently come as a surprise to some that our Creators are one and the same. 

Let us raise the bar to a new ethical understanding, starting with awareness and committed intention, so that we may tell our children that:  “sadly, that was the way it was”, instead of: “sadly, that is the way it is.”  Let us work in such a way that we can be proud to show our children what we do, to take them to work with us and not hide behind locked doors victimizing/sacrificing innocent and defenseless beings who clearly want no part in it, and who we should be protecting and caring for!!!  At the end of the day, it’s not enough to feed, shelter and defend ourselves… we need to restore our society’s collective soul, which speaks to us through animals, young children, and our deepest feelings.  When we make choices which serve all of us, and at the expense of none of us, behaviour that reflects our beliefs… we can enjoy holistic health and we will be much happier and healthier!!

God bless you, Justin.  And thank you in advance for all your efforts for all of us.  

Peta.org is a goldmine of education and awareness and victories, including superior, cheaper alternatives, many of which are in place in many progressive countries today.