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Working in lab today, I received an e-mail acting as a heads-up about violent animal rights activism against research universities, with an increased focus on undergraduate and graduate students (link to source: http://negotiationisover.com/bringing-the-war-to-the-student-body-the-soft-bellied-target-of-the-vivisection-complex/ ).

I'm a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, and I'm involved in animal research. While most of my work is done on processed human samples, I still work with animal models (primarily mice) and feel remorse when they're sacrificed at the end of an experiment. I don't enjoy killing animals and wish it wasn't necessary, but I also realize my work is translational (i.e. trying to translate from basic science into human applications) and feel that the benefits outweigh the cost. My university also has a very strict (and, I like to think, very humanitarian) animal use policy, and both the faculty I've worked with and the people in the animal facilities follow it rigorously.

We have PETA protest here several times a year, and--to their credit--it has always been civil discourse. What I don't understand how somebody can come to the conclusion that "sterile debate doesn't solve anything" and leap to the conclusion that violence and terrorism is necessary to force their viewpoint on others, particularly when they (almost certainly) have reaped the benefits of modern medicine built upon a necessary foundation of animal research.

I don't know; I guess I'm just burned out on all the incendiary, inflammatory rhetoric bandied about from people like this...

Holy fucking Jesus Humperdink Christ on a flamin' pogo stick!!

How can this be fuckin' legal? The link you sent me is actually promoting terrorizing and even assaulting young people because of their career choice. And while I hate Godwining so early on, I can't help but facepalm at the fact that these guys are telling you to use brownshirt tactics against "the holocaust".

Most movements develop an extremist faction, and this is how. Someone feels they are so morally superior that visiting violent 'justice' upon the 'evil' is the only to control people: never mind that historically violent assault results in violent retribution, it will only give them further vindication for their crusade.

You (typically) lose complete moral credibility when you advocate murder to save the lives of animals, but the truth is they're probably right: you can't reason your way out of it, but it's because they're completely loony, not because the 'vivisection complex' is some dark, forboding Illuminati-esque agency that must be decapitated like a serpent.

Edit: I ... should note that I'm not advocating violence against them when I say they probably can't be reasoned with. They're loony, but also tiny. Most people, even animal-rights activists are not terrorists. So there ought to be a healthy level of awareness, but truthfully it is likely best just not to engage them in either discourse or, this really goes without saying, with violence.

Be alert, and I hope that you are only facing empty threats.

Oh, it's not against me in particular (or even against my school). It's a violent whackadoodle down in Florida that they just wanted to give us a heads-up about.

Appreciate the concern, though

This takes freedom of speech into the realms of sedition.

Wow, that is mess up.

Chad Sexington said:

Most movements develop an extremist faction, and this is how. Someone feels they are so morally superior that visiting violent 'justice' upon the 'evil' is the only to control people: never mind that historically violent assault results in violent retribution, it will only give them further vindication for their crusade.

You (typically) lose complete moral credibility when you advocate murder to save the lives of animals, but the truth is they're probably right: you can't reason your way out of it, but it's because they're completely loony, not because the 'vivisection complex' is some dark, forboding Illuminati-esque agency that must be decapitated like a serpent.

Edit: I ... should note that I'm not advocating violence against them when I say they probably can't be reasoned with. They're loony, but also tiny. Most people, even animal-rights activists are not terrorists. So there ought to be a healthy level of awareness, but truthfully it is likely best just not to engage them in either discourse or, this really goes without saying, with violence.

Click to expand...

Sadly, I think that is what some extremist actually believe.

Personally, if they want to save the animals so badly, why they don't give themselves up for science and and people experiment on them!!

Team Plasma will liberate all Pokemon.

In grad school, I named the mouse that bred the most Little Matt. It was a sad day when Little Matt got the ol' CO2 chamber.

Words cannot begin to describe the revulsion; therefore, I won't even try. I may, however, flag the YT video in the upper right corner of that site in which some major creephat claims he would save the life of an animal in discomfort over that of a child in comfort.

So he'd save the life of one animal instead of that of another animal?

Not an animal... but MAAAANNNN!!!

yeah PETA also wants to get rid of ALL pets because they don't think humans should have pets at all, their leader is a crazy one

Then one of the main reasons these kooks love animals is that they bonded too closely to the family pet. Now they want to deny themselves future converts.