We want lions

Mizzou researchers sued for blinding, killing beagles in failed experiment

Read the article here

My response is far less eloquent than many. However I've shared it below and a few more of my thoughts on this matter.

Being silent doesn't work. Hoping things will change, doesn't work. 

Waiting for someone else to take the lead... that's for sheep.

We want lions.

- Jade

The University of Missouri purposely blinded six beagles and then killed them after their experiment failed.

Contact University of Missouri on Facebook: Mizzou. And call them at 573-882-2121.

Mizzou, an institute of higher learning has joined the rank and file of the uneducated, and willfully arrogant. It is no shock or surprise to anyone having spoken to me, or read me for even a nanosecond that I am an animal advocate. I strive to be a voice for the voiceless, be they flesh or furred. I rarely if ever debate peoples choices in diet, as I accept we all have choices to make that are, in fact our own to make. I do try to cut out as much meat in my daily diet as possible for my particular situation. Though I am not a vegan. I do chose to live off the land in the most sustainable manner possible, but yes within my home and within my purchasing power I do live cruelty free,

It is not as expensive as one might think. Case in point, I make minimum wage. I work 40 hours a week for a retail pet company and then work about another 40 to 50 hours as a volunteer rescuer. So it is very safe to say sleep and money are two things I have little of at any given moment. So if I can do it, you can too. If you require help in finding affordable ways to be cruelty free, contact me! I will help you to the very best of my ability! I do not expect you to turn your pocketbook inside out or for you to follow my exact path. I do live my life by extremes in many cases, an yes some days it makes me quite the tyrant to deal with, yet it is a life I have chosen. A life that matters a great deal to me. Their lives mean a great deal to me. In some of my darkest moments, where doubt and self pity seemed to be the only voices being heard clearly through my personal din it was a furry four legged baby that cut through the static and pain and gave me hope.

How can I not honour that love with equal fervor?

I am yes saddened by Mizzou's choices to embrace such horrific practices on whole. More over I am livid at their blatant misuse and abuse of the power they wield much like a child would wield a hammer. Animal testing is as barbaric and cruel as the tortures of the inquisition. Yet we humans, highly educated humans still embrace such practices? To what end? For over a decade we have known that the tests performed on laboratory animals is not only ineffectual but insanely cruel. Other countries have rose above and banned many of the tests performed upon our beautiful sentient furred babies. These countries are:

1. European Union
The EU, consisting of 28 member states, became the world’s first set of countries to ban cosmetics tested on animals. The EU also previously banned testing of finished animal products way back in 2004, and animal-tested ingredients were banned in 2008. According to the New York Times, on March 11, 2013 “European Union regulators announced a ban on the import and sale of cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals and to pledge more efforts to push other parts of the world, like China, to accept alternatives.” These products, though banned from sale in the member countries, can still be sold outside the EU.

2. Norway
At the same time that the EU ban went into effect last year, Norway also announced a ban in their nation. According to the Oslo Times, “Pharmaceuticals are exempted from the new rules, including Botox, although some of them are used cosmetically.” However, as Julie Tesdal Håland of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority explains in the same article, cosmetics which have “already been legally tested on animals will not be taken off the market.”

3. Israel
Israel became the third country to ban “the import, marketing and sale of any cosmetics, toiletries or detergents whose manufacturing process involves animal testing,” according to the website, Israel and Stuff. The Knesset originally passed the law in 2010, but the new regulations took effect on Jan. 2, 2013.

4. India
India became the first Asian nation to ban animal testing for cosmetics. “The decision follows appeals from various quarters, including that from the National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and campaigner for animal rights Maneka Gandhi, to prevent cruelty to animals,” according to The Hindu. PETA, India also campaigned campaigned for quite a while to end animal testing of household products and ingredients. The article also states that, “violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act by any person or corporate manager or owner is liable for punishment for a term which may extend from 3-10 years and shall also be liable to fine which could be Rs.500 to Rs.10,000, or with both.” To avoid loopholes in the ban, non-animal alternative tests were also made mandatory.

Why have we, not followed suit? Better still why in the hell have we not lead the charge?

Lions remember, not sheep.