P'nyssa Cringed.

[elfs]

Animal testing center
Hosted on Flickr!. Click to enlarge.

I am not opposed to animal testing in general. I recognize its necessity and I'm not interested in debating the moral agency of bunny rabbits or mice. I'd like to diminish suffering as much as possible but with the current level of technology there are some tests that are only viable on things bigger than a bacterium.

But I can't help thinking, every time I walk past this building, how some of my characters would react to the knowledge of what would go on inside here. The two strongest ones are P'nyssa and Bambi, one because she's telepathic, the other because she's distantly related to the victims. This cheerful, bright blue building on the waterfront is where the University of Washington Medical Center does its animal testing on medical technologies and drugs, which is why the place is plastered with security cameras, the glass is bankglass, and there are no loitering and no trespassing signs everywhere.

Comments

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

I've worked in a place like that before. Working *there* wasn't my job, but we had rented some labspace at an animal care/testing facility to do a few experiments. (the costs and logistics of having your own animal lab for anything scientific is outrageously expensive) Sadly, it is a rather bleak and depressing place. They do go out of their way to make sure the animals are as well cared for as possible, (by law, they have to) but the scent of mouse is pervasive, even when you change their litter regularly. The whole place fugs of it. No real natural light, either, except in a few offices. The sense of time goes away because of that. Heather and i are good scientists, we do good experiments, and hopefully, a lot of people are going to benefit from what our company is working on... Still, i know how unpleasant it is for *me* to hang around in that building, so i can't help but feel sorry for the animals.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

so i can't help but feel sorry for the animals. …which is what makes you a scientist, and not a sadistic bastard.

I always said that it's not animal testing that's the issue, it's the behavior of the humans doing the testing. Anyone who can be cruel to an animal — any animal — and justify it can do exactly the same thing to another human.