Putting animal testing to rest... sort of

According to a piece on Marketplace (American Public Media), the number of animals used in experimentation has declined by 50 percent over the last 25 years, due at least in part to software that allows researchers to input data about the chemicals they're testing and get an output of just how toxic it is.

Ok, so a 50% decrease is good news, right? Not to be all the-glass-is-half-empty (or should I say still half full... confusing metaphor, sorry), but that means that there are still tons of animals enduring cruel experiments that can only be called torture. Just how many animals, you ask?

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is part of the USDA, reported that researchers tested on over a million animals in 2004, which was the most recent report I was able to find on their site. The number does not include birds, mice, or rats bred for testing because those animals are not covered under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and researchers are not only not required to report the numbers of birds, mice, and rats they test on. (They're also not required to comply with the few protections offered to the animals that are covered under the AWA). The ASPCA estimates that researched experimented on 14 million rats and mice in 2002 in the US alone, and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) puts the worldwide estimate at 100 million animals a year.

The problems with animal testing are twofold. First, it's obviously cruel. (If you don't know what I'm talking about see: The Earthlings, PETA, BUAV, Johns Hopkins University, CaringConsumer.com, etc., etc. Second, the results of experiments on rats, mice, and other animals don't always correlate to people. The results don't always even correlate among more similar animals:

When rat and mouse carcinogens are compared, the tests in rats agree with the tests in mice only
two thirds of the time.
-- Dr. Martin Stephens, Vice President for Animal Research Issues at The Humane Society and Dr. Andrew Rowan, Senior Vice President for Research, Education and International Issues, "An Overview of Animal Testing"

Fortunately, in many cases alternative experiments can be done with computer models and human tissues grown in the lab. These experiments are not only cruelty-free, but often much more accurate. But yet research on animals continues.

So what can we do? Lots. To encourage companies to stop animal testing, check out CaringConsumer.com's list of the companies that still do test on animals. We can stop using their products and write them a letter to let them know why. And choose to support companies that don't test on animals when we need to purchase something. We can also write letters to our representatives, medical schools, and local papers, invest only in cruelty-free companies, and spread the word to friends and family members.

Yama LLama

A couple of weeks ago I asked one of my friends if she was interested in coming to a film screening that was part of the events for Global Days for Darfur. She friend emailed back, "Sounds interesting! Unfortunately I have kickball every Monday," without any apparent sense of irony, as though I'd asked her to join a knitting club rather than go to a fundraiser to help stop genocide. A few weeks before that, I asked one of my coworkers if he'd be interested in taking a shift at the soup kitchen where our office volunteers once a month. He said something to the effect of, "No thanks, I donate blood," as if there's only so much he's willing to contribute to the community. And then I saw this nauseating post by John Mayer on the Grist site.

In a recent speech Paul Watson mentioned a line by Leonard Cohen, "You are locked into your suffering and your pleasures are the seal." Except that I think maybe that by pursuing our pleasures, we're locking other people into suffering. Of course it's more fun to play kickball than to watch documentaries about the genocide of people halfway around the world. Is she any worse off for her choice? Probably not, provided she can justify her decision and quiet her conscience. But she's certainly not going out of her way to help the people of Sudan. Is John Mayer doing anything to prevent global warming by switching to reusable grocery bags while continuining to drive an SUV and flying a private charter? Nope. He's just figured out a way to stroke his ego enough that he can not only continue to pollute and to feel good about it, but also to encourage others to do the same.

I am afraid of falling into that trap of complacency, and so I've decided to actively work to change my lifestyle so that the decisions I make help, or at least harm as little as possible, other people, animals, and the environment. I've also gone back to being vegetarian after a couple years of being a bit lax, and I'm moving towards a vegan diet. I'm trying to research companies before I buy from them, buy used when possible, and just to consume less overall. Of course, I'm not perfect. I check celebrity blogs first when I get to work, not news sites. I still have a Diet Coke a few afternoons each week, even though I know Coca-Cola is involved in questionable practices. I sometimes drive when I could probably walk. But I am trying to change.

Nor am I against having fun. It's great my friend enjoys kickball and it's nice that John Mayer wants to make environmentalism lighthearted. But I think there's got to be a better balance between fun and making responsible choices.

So I'm also working to become more involved in the issues I think are important by learning more about them, taking part in local events, contributing when I can to non-profits, and volunteering at the local soup kitchen, animal shelter, and the Center for the New American Dream. And I've decided to be more vocal about social, environmental, and animal rights issues I think are important. I'm speaking up at work, in class, and with friends where before I was worried about seeming too radical. This blog is part of that effort to share what I believe in.

When I figuring out what to call this blog, I knew I wanted a name that would sum up, in a word or two, the philosophy that ties together my views on seemingly unrelated topics. And the definition of yama on the Yoga Journal website does just that. And I just like the word llama. Plus, they're pretty darn cute.

Yama

The first limb, yama, deals with one's ethical standards and sense of integrity, focusing on our behavior and how we conduct ourselves in life. Yamas are universal practices that relate best to what we know as the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The five yamas are:

Ahimsa: nonviolence

Satya: truthfulness

Asteya: nonstealing

Brahmacharya: continence [also defined as self-restraint]

Aparigraha: noncovetousness