AV Magazine Issue 1-3 2014

AV

A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY 2014 | Number 1—3

magazine

FROM THE HEART CARING ABOUT ANIMALS

THE WAYS OF LOVE pg 4 MY KIND OF DOG pg 6

2014 Number 1—3

From the Heart FEATURES

4 THE WAYS OF LOVE

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The many ways we express our love and care of animals.

By G.A. Bradshaw

6 My Kind of Dog

A whimsical look at life, inspired by a dog named Ace.

By John Woestendiek

8 Little Things

Appreciating even the smallest of animals in nature.

By Hope Sawyer Buyukmihci

9 Making Life Choices

4 DEPARTMENTS 1 First Word It begins with love.

2 Briefly Speaking Global Look at Animal Testing and Cosmetics; Look for the Leaping Bunny; Random Source Class B Dealers Down, But Not Out; Dissection Choice for Students; This Little Chip Went to Market.

20 Tributes Special friends honored and remembered.

24 Members’ Corner AAVS members care and share from the heart.

25 Giving With your support, a little TLC goes a long way.

The 2013 Humane Student of the Year shares the experiences that drive him to help animals.

By Andrew Puccetti

10 Interview Profile: Laura Bonar Program Director, Animal Protection of New Mexico

Voicing her care and love for animals, this grassroots activist has helped make a difference for hundreds of chimpanzees.

12 Caring and Learning

Starting with 56 bobcat kittens, Big Cat Rescue has evolved into the widely respected sanctuary that it is today.

By Carol Baskin

14 Interview Profile: Ray Whalen Professor and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Colorado State University

With enthusiasm and insight gained from over 30 years of teaching, Dr. Whalen talks about transforming veterinary education.

16 The Seed Never Sees the Flower

Presented at AAVS’s 125th anniversary celebration, this encouraging epilogue is sure to uplift any animal advocate.

By Tom Regan

18 How Cats Love

Felines show it with a blink of their eyes.

By Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

Founded in 1883, the American Anti-Vivisection Society’s (AAVS) mission is to unequivocally oppose and work to end experimentation on animals and to oppose all other forms of cruelty to animals. AAVS is a nonprofit education organization using legal, effective advocacy to achieve meaningful, lasting change.

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magazine

VOLUME CXXII Number 1-3 ISSN 0274-7774

Executive Editor Sue A. Leary

Managing Editor Crystal Schaeffer Copy Editor Julie Cooper-Fratrik Graphic Design Austin Schlack Staff Contributors Christopher Derer Vicki Katrinak Katherine Lewis Art Direction and Design Brubaker Design

AV Magazine (USPS 002-660) is published quarterly by the American Anti-Vivisection Society, which has been providing a magazine for members continuously since 1892. Annual membership dues: $25.00.

Office of Publication: 801 Old York Road, Suite 204 Jenkintown, PA 19046-1611 phone: 215-887-0816 e-mail: editor@theavmagazine.org

SPECIAL REPORT p 22

www.aavs.org

AAVS welcomes requests to reproduce articles that appear in AV Magazine. In all cases, we will require that credit be given to the author and to AAVS. The individual views and claims expressed in AV Magazine are not necessarily those of the organization.

AV Magazine is printed on recycled paper.

First Word I’M AN ANIMAL LOVER. THERE, I SAID IT. Yes, I agree with the philosophy and principles of animal rights, and I work every day to advance rational arguments about the problems with animal experimentation and the advantages of using alternative methods.

That’s using my head. But why am I here? It’s because I hold a special feeling for animals in my heart. It was always there and I know that it Sue with Sascha always will be; it’s love. Chances are, you are no stranger to that emotion.

It’s very human to love animals.

In this issue, we celebrate our extraordinary, real bond with animals. And we celebrate the people who have made it their mission to help animals in many different ways. I am very grateful to the generous and talented contributors, including Tom Regan, whom you might associate more with animal rights philosophy than matters of the heart. But his article reminds us of the effect that a loving attitude has on other people and the value of carrying our message in a compassionate way.

And your voice is here, too. We are featuring an expanded “Tributes” section to highlight the heartfelt messages that we receive from members who memorialize or honor their beloved animal and human friends and family. All of us at AAVS are inspired by your kindness.

When I studied animal behavior in college, my professor warned me against ‘anthropomorphism.’ He meant it would be wrong to apply my human experience to interpret what is going on with an animal.

Of course, being objective is the hallmark of science, and I appreciate the value of an education in logical thinking. But I had learned from Jane Goodall’s films on chimpanzee behavior that it is perfectly reasonable to relate to animals. In fact, it often leads to an understanding that is richer, not poorer.

My love for animals is the fuel that keeps me going. And you are the fuel that keeps AAVS going. I am so grateful for the values that we share. This issue is dedicated to you.

Thank you for caring.

Sue A. Leary, President, American Anti-Vivisection Society

ACTGIVE LEARN

Visit our new website to find out what you can do to help end the use of animals in science. www.aavs.org AV MAGAZINE

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Briefly Speaking WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

GLOBAL LOOK AT ANIMAL TESTING AND COSMETICS A year after the full implementation of the European Union’s (EU) ban on the sale of cosmetics containing animal tested ingredients, the U.S. has started to address this unnecessary and archaic practice. In March, Congressman Jim Moran introduced the Humane Cosmetics Act, a bill that would ban animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients, as well as phase out the sale of such products. Industry has shown support for this ban, and 127 Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certified companies have publicly endorsed this legislation. As the Chair of the Leaping Bunny Program, AAVS is pleased that the U.S. is finally moving to ban the cruel practice.

Other countries are also looking critically at the use of animals to test cosmetics. Israel enacted a ban similar to the EU’s last year and, most recently, India has prohibited the sale of cosmetic products that have been tested on animals in other countries.

Companies wanting to import products to India now must show that no new animal testing was conducted on their cosmetic products and ingredients.

China, which has required the use of animals to test cosmetic products, changed its regulations this year, allowing for the use of non-animal alternative test methods to assess the safety of

regular use cosmetics that are manufactured within Mainland China. Advocates working to gain acceptance of alternatives in their country welcomed this regulation change. It is likely that China will continue to loosen its strict animal testing requirements, and perhaps one day soon will allow foreign products to enter the market, without animals being harmed.

AAVS hopes that these recent developments represent a shift of worldwide attitudes, moving away from the use of animal testing for cosmetics. Polls have repeatedly shown that the majority of consumers do not want items like shampoo and lipstick being tested on animals. As elected officials, companies, and advocates work together to address this unethical practice, and as non-animal alternatives slowly replace animal models, it seems more likely than ever that we will soon live in a world without animal-tested cosmetics. In the meantime, AAVS urges consumers to be sure about their cruelty-free choices by purchasing cosmetic products only from companies certified free of new animal testing by the Leaping Bunny Program.

Dissection Choice for Students

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Association of Biology Teachers and the National Science Teacher’s Association, the largest science teaching organization in America. Oftentimes, teachers are unaware that animals, such as frogs, are taken from the wild for use in classroom dissection. But once teachers become informed, they usually want to try an alternative.

To meet teacher needs, Animalearn operates The Science Bank, a free lending library of alternatives to dissection and other harmful uses of animals in the classroom. Over 62% of the teachers who borrow from The Science Bank used borrowed products as a replacement to using animals, and 88% of those felt that alternatives were “helpful as a replacement to using animals.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCIENCE BANK, VISIT: www.animalearn.org.

PHOTOS BY VEER

Earlier this year, New Hampshire and Michigan joined 16 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, in granting students K-12 the right to use alternatives instead of participating in animal dissection exercises. Other states enacting similar laws or policies are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

Acceptance of dissection alternatives has been a growing trend. In fact, according to a July survey conducted by the Humane Research Council, 77 percent of U.S. adults believe that students should “have the right to refuse to dissect animals.” While all this is certainly good news, Animalearn hopes to eliminate the use of animals in education for students in every state in the U.S. Part of this effort includes attending a variety of different teacher conferences, including those hosted by the National

RANDOM SOURCE CLASS B DEALERS: DOWN BUT NOT OUT

As AAVS supporters may recall, in 2009 the National Academies of Sciences released a report concluding that animals obtained from random source class B dealers are not necessary for National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported research. In response, NIH announced plans to phase out funding for research studies that use dogs and cats from random source dealers. This policy came into full effect this past October for dogs and in 2012 for cats.

Although there used to be hundreds of random source dealers operating throughout the United States, now only a handful remain. Most recently, random source Class B dealer Kenneth Schroeder was accused to have “willfully violated the Animal Welfare Act” when he illegally obtained seven dogs, failed to maintain proper housing for animals, and did not give U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors access to his records and facilities, as required by law.

Schroeder’s license has been revoked by the USDA, and he can no longer sell dogs and cats to laboratories.

But even as the number of those who reject random source dealers continues to grow, eliminating the few remaining dealers has been a long and arduous process. For example, at the end of 2013, an administrative law judge ruled that random source Class B dealer James Woudenberg had not violated the Animal Welfare Act and corresponding regulations as outlined in a USDA complaint. USDA appealed, but a judicial officer ruled this past September that even though Woudenberg illegally obtained animals, a simple cease and desist order for continuing to violate the AWA was satisfactory. This decision to allow illegal activity to go unpunished further highlights the need to stop licensing and regulating random source dealers.

Instead, Congress should pass the Pet Safety and Protection Act and put them out of business once and for all.

LOOK FOR THE LEAPING BUNNY! IT’S THE LOGO YOU CAN TRUST. Leaping Bunny is a one-of-a-kind cruelty-free certification program for personal care and household product companies. It requires: • No animal testing at any stage of manufacture • No new animal testing after a fixed cut-off date • Companies must be open to independent audits Since AAVS took over as its Chair, Leaping Bunny has certified over 400 cruelty-free companies. Find out who they are by visiting: www.leapingbunny.org/partners.php.

This Little Chip Went to Market

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n July 21-22, 2014, the National Academy of Sciences hosted a meeting about the potential of the Organ-on-a-Chip technologies that have captured the attention of the scientific world. These alternative models promise to take chemical and drug testing to a whole new level of accuracy and speed. Importantly, they leave crude animal testing behind, with the emphasis on using arrays of human cells specific to organs like the lung, liver, or heart.

Just one week after the meeting, the on-a-chip development team from Harvard announced the launch of Emulate Inc., backed by billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. The new biotech company will commercialize the systems and begin marketing to research labs. An article on FierceBiotech.com quoted CEO James Coon, saying, “There’s a lot of interest in reducing animal testing.”

The following month, groundbreaking scientist Ewe Marx of Germany introduced the company he started, TissUse, which is ready to combine four organ chips on one device that’s about the size of a smart phone to simultaneously test drugs or chemicals in key human tissues. His announcement came at the 9th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, which was co-sponsored by AAVS affiliate, the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation (ARDF).

The Congress, which was held in Prague, Czech Republic showcased many commercial cell and tissue culture systems for testing, particularly of cosmetics, which cannot be sold in European countries if they are tested on animals, due to a law that took effect in 2013. Companies demonstrated highly sophisticated systems for evaluating the safety of chemicals without using animals.

Additionally, ARDF announced its 2014 funded projects at the Congress, including a “mini-brain” to study Parkinson’s disease, which is in early development stages. ARDF is able to provide key funding in the earlier stages in the development of new methods, thanks to the evaluations of expert scientific reviewers coordinated by the Institute for In Vitro Sciences. As one scientist at the Congress commented, “New methods to replace animals are especially needed in basic disease research. It’s great that ARDF is there to help move everything forward.”

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The

Ways of Love WE TALK ABOUT LOVE ALL THE TIME: “I sure would love to win the lottery.” “We loved Spain!” “Don’t you love Meryl Streep!” “Barry just loves pizza.” “I love you.” Love is all around, but when it comes to describing what it is, love remains one of those ineffables, an extraordinary feeling that we recognize yet find hard to put into words.

That’s one reason why poets have always had the first and last say about love. Poems provide the space for the unspoken that love needs to live and thrive. Shakespeare, Rumi, Browning, and other poets survive the ages because they never appropriate the private property of the reader, the intimacy, and essence shared with a beloved.

Love’s trace perhaps shows most unabashedly in our relationships with other animals. Even the most formidable countenance melts when faced with the sweet, funny, or simply loving face of a companion animal. This openness is often attributed to the unconditional love that other animals give. “I am yours, no questions asked.” Such devotion and willingness to love is even more astounding when one takes into account that most all animals who live with us never really had a choice. We take our own liberty to exercise free will for granted, and fail to appreciate the dignity with which other animals live their lives.

While we struggle with likes and dislikes, other animals seem to be able to overcome pride and prejudice, and see though external form with x-ray precision to human hearts and souls.

For a long time, inter-species love stories were regarded as mere

4 2014 FROM THE HEART

anecdotes closer to just-so fantasies than to real life. But now, scientists are starting to take the love we share with animal kin seriously. Harvard etymologist E.O. Wilson calls this transspecies attraction ‘’biophilia.’’ According to Wilson, human affinity for other animals is a natural product of evolution. The impulse to save an injured deer or lost puppy is deeply ingrained psychologically after millions of years living side by side in nature.

Such bonding is in our genes, and doctors say it’s good for us.

Over the past two decades, neurobiologists have been studying how love affects health. Social connection—cuddling, caressing, snuggling—causes a release of a chemical called oxytocin that whirls around in the bloodstream and signals brain and body to relax. Love reduces stress. Further, the quality of our social circle and relationships goes beyond skin-deep. Along with genes, it shapes how we see the world. Early attachments made in youth teach us who and how to be. Who and how we love shapes the tiny neural pathways of our brains. “We are,” as Nobel Prizewinner François Mauriac put it, “molded and re-molded by those who have loved us; and though the love may pass, we are nevertheless their work, for good or for ill.” Today, science recognizes Mauriac’s lyrical “molding” as one of the most important influences in our lives.

Of course, this is no surprise to other animals. Elephants, cats, rabbits, all other mammals, and even fish and snakes touch, groom, nuzzle, and hang out together as a matter of everyday life. Social life is life. It is unthinkable for a Canada goose or

PHOTO BY ISTOCKPHOTO

By G.A. Bradshaw

sardine to live in isolation. When animals are kept alone in zoos, the love shared with our animal kin. Similar to love itself, the laboratory cages, and aquaria, their bodies ail and their minds love for and by our cat or dog fails to neatly fit into any one box. wither in the agony of deprivation. This understanding forms Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it best when she wrote, “How the basis for science’s use of animals in experiments researching do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” While we have all sorts the effects of isolation on human well-being. In the absence of of categories for human-human relationships—friends, lovers, touch or other social interactions, monkeys, cats, and rats despouse, buddy, associate, colleague, partner, and so on; none of velop a suite of emotional wounds, including incessant rocking, these are comfortably used for other species. Collective labels for self-mutilation, screaming, eating disorders, and suicide. human relationships may not capture the ineluctable relational Such bonding and the ameliorative effects of love are not limfacets we experience individually, but they provide a bit more ited to people nor within a species, as a number of famous ‘odd flexibility, and respect, than “lizard,” “dog,” “parrot,” rabbit,” and couples’ illustrate. Several years ago, a tsunami swept through, so on, affords. leaving Owen, a young hippopotamus, orphaned in Kenya. In There is no single cat-human relationship, nor is there a single the absence of other hippos, Mzee, an ancient tortoise, stepped sheep-human relationship. Each of our beloved animal family in as a surrogate parent and the two became inseparable. Etholo- members has a unique personality with his or her own special gist Konrad Lorenz wrote about a bird who fell in love with habits and ways of expressing love and affection. The fact that a Swiss woman from a nearby village, ignoring all other avian human and other animals’ life spans are usually very different companions. Koko the gorilla adopted a kitten, and there are means that we and they play a myriad of roles. At first, we may pictures of him carefully cradling the young cat as if she were be a surrogate mother or father to the rescued stray kitten. Then, his own child. More recently, a couple filmed a neighborhood as he grows into a teenage cat, the relationship may evolve into crow caring for a young stray cat. Diligently, the bird brought a friendship comprised of playful days and thrilling adventures. food, even worms, to nourish the fragile feline, and in time Some days or nights, when we return home upset, our cat or dog the two began a friendship, playing together and enjoying each plays yet another role, that of consoling companion or comfortother’s companionship. ing parent and spouse to help wipe away the tears.

Neither is love limited to the furred and feathered. While At other times, our companion is our champion, pushing her some scoff at the idea of reptile emotions, neuroscientists have way protectively forward with a suspicious growl when another shown that crocodile love is not qualitatively differOVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, NEUROBIOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN STUDYING ent than Romeo’s. Erich HOW LOVE AFFECTS HEALTH. SOCIAL CONNECTION—CUDDLING, CARESSING, Jarvis, a professor in the medical school and neuSNUGGLING—CAUSES A RELEASE OF A CHEMICAL CALLED OXYTOCIN THAT WHIRLS rosciences department AROUND IN THE BLOODSTREAM AND SIGNALS BRAIN AND BODY TO RELAX. at Duke University, has shown that while the evolutionary trails of mammals and sauropsids (reptiles and birds) human signals a less than positive attitude. Finally, roles reverse, were different, their brains have parallel structures and capacities. and caregiver turns to care receiver. There comes a time when “The bird brain is a reptile brain or the reptile is a bird brain and our faithful cat or dog becomes ill or aged and needs to be supthey are both analogous to the mammalian brain having comported. The smile, playful swat, or pleading bark no longer come parable capacities and functions.” Reptiles and birds have hearts so readily. It is our turn to cheer up our beloved, to urge her or and brains as big as ours. One beautiful story is that of Chito, him to try a little more food and walk a little farther. When the the human, and Pocho, the 17 foot, 980-pound crocodile. burden of decision weighs heavily on our hearts, we are faced One day, 20 years or more ago, a Costa Rican fisherman with yet another way of relating. found the crocodile lying on the banks of a river. Pocho had Mother, father, friend, beloved, companion, teacher, student, been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer. Chito hoisted the partner, confidante, protector—the list goes on. Animal family dying crocodile into his boat and took him home. There he members play many roles with generosity and grace. They, and cared for the suffering reptile giving him food and medicine relationships with them, do not fit in one simple category. Our and sleeping every night by his side. Miraculously, the crocodile beloved animal friends are universes unto themselves. We, who survived. It took more than six months for him to recover. Chito have the fortune to be invited in to their grace, are blessed. The explained: “I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, ways of love for animals cannot be counted, only embraced with that not all humans are bad.” After Pocho was able to move on the great depth, fidelity, and love that they give us. AV his own, the two friends took to swimming together in the river.

Then, when Chito started for home, Pocho would haul himself G. A. Bradshaw, Ph.D., Ph.D., is the Founder and Executive Director of The Kerulos Center (www.kerulos.org), and author of out of the water and faithfully follow him home. Their loving Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us About Humanity friendship lasted two decades until the day Pocho died.

Yet the real stories lie between sonnets and science, in our per- (Yale 2009) and The Elephant Letters: The Story of Billy and Kani sonal experiences. Once more, we encounter another ineffable— (Awakeling 2014).

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My Kind of Dog

By John Woestendiek

What do many old men do? They bemoan how fast the world is changing. They wax on about the good old days. They repeatedly tell you how quickly time passes, wasting more of it in the process. They get cranky, badmouth technology, and complain about high prices. They tell you that they don’t make them—whoever and whatever they and them are—like they used to. They lose their keys, start actually enjoying oatmeal, and become dedicated to their boring routines, swallowed up by them, almost.

They feel as if they are fading: in a word, ephemeral; in two words, like a has been.

I, at the age of 57, unattached and unemployed, was experiencing some of those symptoms when, in 2011, my mutt persuaded me to get off my butt. That is one of the countless things dogs do for us, or at least that my dog, a mix of multiple breeds, does for me.

In addition to having someone to grow old with, dogs provide us with a daily reminder of how to hang on to playfulness and humor, how to stay curious, how to keep exploring, how to overlook the ailments, and persevere when all else might be sagging and malfunctioning.

They open doors we might have shut and locked and misplaced the key to. Dogs never seem to lose the pup inside. We, far more taxed and tested by the complexities of life, let the kid in us slip away.

When Ace and I spontaneously set off on what turned out to be a year-long road trip across America, following the route John Steinbeck took with his purebred poodle in Travels with Charley, one of our early stops was at the house where my favorite old man once lived.

My grandfather, though I never remember him having a dog, always seemed to have an abundant supply of humor and playfulness, as if there were a little boy, planning his next prank, lurking within

his wrinkly old self. He was a master of puns—not gregarious, not a back-slapper, just a quietly funny man.

As a child, the trip to his house in Saugerties, New York, seemed to take forever, even though it was only 100 miles from where my family lived on Long Island, not all that far from where John Steinbeck resided in Sag Harbor.

We’d load ourselves into a beige Buick station wagon, and I’d always claim the flip-up extra back seat that faced back-

that, when not in use, was always neatly blanketed with a cover that said “Hot Toast Makes the Butterfly.”

My grandmother was a highly tidy sort, but, serious as she often seemed, it was always easy to make her smile. My grandfather was usually smiling, and the trick was to figure out why. Her parents came from Ireland, his from Germany. That makes me, especially when you throw in my mother’s Welsh roots, a mutt, like most Americans.

As a child, I never held much interest in my heritage. As a mix of bland and pasty white nationalities best known (or at least stereotyped) for being stern and hard drinking, I’d never felt inclined to delve into my roots. I saw no mysteries worth solving, and assumed that, as a third generation, TV-raised American, I was more a product of Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, and Lucille Ball than all those people from towns in Germany whose names I couldn’t pronounce.

Ace’s roots, on the other hand, have always captivated me—from the moment I picked him up from a Baltimore shelter in 2005.

Like most people who adopt a dog from a shelter, I left not knowing for sure what was at the end of the leash. His shelter paperwork listed him as a “hound mix.” Shelter staff referred to him as a “shepherd mix.” A “Labrador mix” was how he was classified on Petfinder.com, a national directory of adoptable dogs, where, I’d learn later, he’d been briefly listed and had generated an impressive 302 clicks.

I was given little in the way of a back story, other than that he was a stray, picked up by animal control, one of about 6,000 dogs who ended up in the city shelter that year. I knew he was more or less six months old. I knew, despite being told

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wards, affording me a view not of what hope and promise lay ahead but one of ground already traveled.

Maybe it was a longing for the good old days, a desire to ride backwards into simpler times, that led me to stop in Saugerties.

Since Grandpa has been dead for more than 30 years, I had no real plan other than driving by the old farmhouse where my father grew up, seeing how the little village of Saugerties had changed, and walking my dog through the always colorful streets of neighboring Woodstock.

Buried memories bubbled to the surface the second I pulled into the crunchy gravel driveway of his former home and climbed the wooden stairs where the “Kingston Dairy” milk box used to sit.

Ace took a seat on the front porch as I, after figuring out nobody was home, sat on the steps and remembered tastes, sounds, and sights of the past: Playing pinochle; sipping hot tea in the afternoon with tons of cream and sugar; the kitchen toaster

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN WOESTENDIEK

In addition to having someone to grow old with, dogs provide us with a daily reminder of how to hang on to playfulness and humor, how to stay curious, how to keep exploring, how to overlook the ailments, and persevere when all else might be sagging and malfunctioning.

he was going to be medium-sized, that he was going to be huge.

But as for the big question, I hadn’t a clue.

The day didn’t go by that I wasn’t asked, “What kind of dog is that?” And if that weren’t enough, Ace’s own body reminded me daily of his ambiguity, via the fuzzy punctuation formed by his tail. When he’s happy, it’s a perfect question mark.

Perhaps in his heritage lay some explanation of what made him so easily trainable, so obliging, so sweet and sensitive.

Perhaps too, I reasoned, knowing the breeds he was made up of could explain what made him so darn big.

In 2007, tests came on the market that promised to answer that question, to divulge the contents of your mystery mutt through at-home DNA testing. I sent for the kit. I received a sterile swab, packed in an airtight container and, in accordance with the directions provided, removed it, rubbed it across his gums, repackaged it, and sent it to the laboratory. The earliest versions of the test promised to identify which, among the 38 breeds they could check for at the time, were in your dog.

About a month later, the results came in the mail, along with a “Certificate of DNA Breed Analysis.” It stated Ace was Rottweiler and Chow Chow.

I winced. Chows, if you believe the bad press they’ve received, are obstinate, fiercely loyal, and somewhat detached, with a reputation for biting. Some say it’s a remnant of the way they were once treated in China, where they originated, and where, during some periods of history, they were used for fur and meat.

Originating in Germany, Rottweilers were used for herding and as guard dogs, and some manuals warn they can become dominant and overly aggressive, especially around other dogs.

Ace, while he does fancy himself king when around other dogs, while he can sometimes act aloof, while he does have the blocky head of a Rottweiler, and something akin to the fluffy tail of a Chow, had none of those negative personality traits, and enough positive ones to have gotten certified as a therapy dog.

As the tests became more sophisticated, I tried them two more times. The second

test deemed Ace a combination of Rottweiler, Chow and Akita, a Japanese breed also burdened with a bad reputation. In the third test, his mix was determined to be 50 percent Rottweiler, meaning one of his parents was of that breed, with the rest of him made up of Chow, Akita, and pit bull.

My dog, according to state-of-the-art scientific testing, was a mixture of four of the most feared and bad-mouthed breeds in the land or, in the case of pit bulls, the most bad-mouthed of all.

The tests, while they can be useful in identifying health issues affiliated with certain breeds, can also saddle dogs with the stigma of negative, often mythical, stereotypes. In my case, it was information that could only serve to keep me from ever renting again, at least if I were to be honest about it.

If Ace proves anything, assuming there’s anything to those stereotypes in the first place, it’s that mixing breeds tends to bring out the best and quash the worst, and that labels, handy as they might be, are best left for grocery store aisles.

It may fly in the face of kennel club notions about purity, but mutts, in my view, are healthier, smarter, and ooze far more personality than purebreds, who exist by virtue of relatives mating with relatives, sometimes distant, sometimes not too distant. That has resulted in a long list of genetic health issues in certain breeds,

some of them fixable by simply bringing some outside blood into the mix, but that’s a concept abhorrent to many purebred purists.

Ace has made me a proponent of, and witness to, the miracle of mixing.

I miss the mystery, but I can still let others play the guessing game, offering up the breeds they think are in him before I, like a smug game show host, give them the correct answer. It’s not quite as fun that way.

I miss grandpa, too. I long ago stopped trying to guess what traits I inherited from whom—whether my revulsion with disorder is an echo of my meticulous Irish grandma, whether all those practical jokes were a vestige of my sly German grandpa.

One conclusion I have reached, though, with help from my dog: The more who jump into the gene pool, the happier a place it will be. AV John Woestendiek is a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist who produces the website ohmidog! (www.ohmidog.com). He left newspapers in 2008 to write the book, Dog, Inc: The Uncanny Inside Story of Cloning Man’s Best Friend (www.dogincthebook. com). Being unemployed after that, he hit the road for a year with his dog Ace, leading to the writing of a second book Travels with Ace. It has yet to be published, and is seeking a good home.

Ace sitting on the porch of the author’s grandparent’s house.

AV MAGAZINE

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Little Things

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’ve been thinking about little things, and how, when we take our eyes off the big view and focus down sharp, we catch a glimpse of miniature marvels.

Have you ever watched a red-winged blackbird comb through grass and leaves along a waterway, picking up tiny bugs, worms, and flies for her young? Or seen her alight on lily pads and flip their edges over to glean insects from the undersides?

Have you watched a small spider eating a mosquito?

A box turtle stretching his head out and going “Chomp!” on a fresh mushroom?

A hummingbird hovering beside a cattail, pulling out fuzz to line her nest?

Probably none of the above things are visible from the cockpit of a spray plane as it zooms overhead dumping poison on a woodland or pond.

It’s time for more respect for the rights of the little fellow; kindness to the small.

One day three youngsters visited Unexpected Wildlife Refuge. The five-year-old boy was interested in a two-way column of ants, who were streaming up and down a maple trunk and along the ground. He began enthusiastically to stomp on the ants.

I went over and said, “Please don’t kill the ants.”

He asked: “Why not?”

That’s a good question. A creature is small; he is not doing you any good; he is in your power. It’s easy to kill him. Why not do it?

My answer came from my own imagination, taught by the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I said, “Because they are alive, and they like to live. They do not kill you.” He stopped stomping and began watching.

Later, I heard him say to his sisters, as they bent over to inspect a bug, “Don’t kill it!”

We climbed a ladder and studied a Polistes wasp nest under the eaves. Unlike hornets and yellowjackets, these wasps, though they can sting, will not do so unless you actually disturb them or their nest. We watched the wasps wave their antennae and fidget,

8 2014 FROM THE HEART

alert to what we might do. Together, we wondered why the baby wasps did not fall out, since their nest hung upside down.

Imagination was in gear.

Imagination is built into every child. Imagination is so small that even with a microscope we cannot find it. Yet it runs the world of human affairs and has a profound effect on our surroundings.

One day a man was reading beside a table with a glass of water. A wasp alighted on the edge of the glass and began dipping into the water to wash himself. The man got a magnifying glass and watched the tiny bather, who washed his face with both hands, brushed his hair (antennae) back off his face, then washed his arms, legs and feet.

Half an hour later this man, fascinated by the humanlike actions of the wasp, vowed never to kill another wasp. “When a wasp gets in the house,” he says, “I catch it in a down-turned drinking glass, slip a stiff card beneath, and release it outdoors. This keeps me busy in summer, for wasps delight in building their homes close to our doors.”

A famous scientist, Julian Huxley, tells of watching an ant take a nap. The little ant chose a depression in the soil, lay down there, and drew up his legs close to his body. He went to sleep.

When he woke up three hours later, he lifted his head, stretched out his six legs and shook them. Then he opened his jaws wide in a big yawn. Dr. Huxley could imagine himself doing the same things.

Imagination is born into each of us, but we must feed it or it will die. When we kill an ant unnecessarily, we are killing that invisible part of ourselves which is our most valuable attribute. AV This article was originally published in the April 1981 issue of the AV Magazine. A longtime animal advocate and conservationist, Ms. Buyukmihci was a regular contributor to the magazine, and in her popular essays she not only shared her experiences but also her love of animals and nature.

PHOTOS BY ISTOCKPHOTO (THIS PAGE), SONCE LANDA PHOTOGRAPHY (OPPOSITE)

A View of Animals and Nature By Hope Sawyer Buyukmihci

Making Life Choices: A Student Perspective

By Andrew Puccetti

M

y experience in the animal rights movement started when I was 13 years old. I went on a weekend field trip to a farm, and the first ‘‘activity’’ was passing around a chicken, bonding with it, and then dissecting it. I was disgusted and even more disturbed when a classmate was instructed to cut off the head.

Later, during that same trip, a deer was killed and dissected; someone in the class actually fainted. I went vegetarian the next day and started researching animal rights issues intensely.

Soon after that incident, I had the opportunity to join the Student Advisory Board at The Humane Society of the United States. I met so many others yearning to make a difference. Being on the Board made me realize that young people do have the power to make a difference, and it was around that time that I dedicated my life to being a voice for all animals.

In July of 2011, I founded a nonprofit organization, which I named after my life motto: Live Life Humane. The focus of my organization is exclusively on youth outreach. Young people are the future leaders of our society, and I believe that it is of utmost importance to educate them on animal rights issues and being a voice for those who cannot speak. Live Life Humane also has a dissection program to make sure students understand that they have a right to peacefully oppose this terrible practice.

During this time, I also embraced a philosophy of considering myself an animal rights educator, instead of an activist.

I find that many activists scare, shock, and guilt others into their cause, and I do not believe this is the most effective way to deliver a message. We should be educating

others in a positive light, inspiring them by living our lives the way we hope others will live, and giving them tools and courage to take action.

The second time I was faced with dissection, I wasn’t yet educated or comfortable standing up for my rights.

I’m extremely ashamed to say that I dissected a worm, fish, crayfish, and frog.

It made me feel terrible and guilty. After that, I vowed never to dissect again. The following year, I asked my teacher for an alternative assignment, and we worked out a plan for me to write papers and opt out of the dissections. I was very happy with the way things worked out, and I learned so much from the alternatives. Plus, it felt amazing standing up for my rights!

However, I still regret the choice I made to observe my classmates dissect fetal pigs. I watched as they named their pigs and moved their mouths to make them ‘talk’ with no regard as to where the animals came from. My mission with Live Life Humane’s dissection program is to empower students, like myself, who don’t want to dissect, so no one will have to go through the same horrors that I experienced in biology.

Now, at the age of 16, I plan to spend the rest of my life speaking up for animals.

Each one of us can make a difference. All we must do is educate ourselves, and

then inspire others to take action. Join me in my mission to educate the youth of our world so that animals can have a better tomorrow. AV Andrew Puccetti was named the 2013 Humane Student of the Year by AAVS’s education division, Animalearn. He is the founder of Live Life Humane, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young people about animal rights issues and inspiring them to make a difference.

Visit www.LiveLifeHumane.org for more information.

AV MAGAZINE

9

PROFILE

Laura Bonar

Program Director, Animal Protection of New Mexico

AAVS: Why do so many people care about chimpanzees?

Laura: I think it’s two things. One, at least in the U.S., there’s been so much attention on chimpanzees, whether it’s through the amazing work that Dr. Jane Goodall does, or movies like Planet of the Apes and the Chimpanzee movie. But, oh my gosh, chimpanzees are so compelling and amazing and extraordinary creatures. Humans are so drawn to them because they are so like us. There has also been a lot of media attention on the chimpanzee issue, too.

One thing that’s different about chimpanzees compared to other animals used in labs is that we know more about their personal lives. Do you think this helps us to better relate to chimps?

I think for the chimps, and for lots of other animal advocacy issues, it really helps to get to the heart of the matter when you’re talking about the suffering of an individual and what that individual has endured.

You had the opportunity to meet some laboratory chimps.

Yes. In 2010, I was able to go to the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico and took a quick tour. I met the oldest chimp, who is still there today; her name is Flo. Later on, I was able to go through her medical records..

Can you tell us about her?

I feel a very strong connection to Flo, especially when I share her story of what she endured; how she was taken from the wild and

10 2014 FROM THE HEART

used in the circus, trained to smoke, exhibited in a zoo, and then purchased by a research lab and moved to New Mexico in 1972, where she was used for breeding. She was mated with many different males, and had four children who were taken away from her shortly after birth for use in testing. Flo endured over 120 knockout anesthesia, and tried to escape multiple times.

But Flo is a survivor, and to be able to talk about her, she is 56, the losses she has had and how she is still here, and we still have a chance to show her some compassion and decency at the end of her life.

Her story is heartbreaking.

Yes, and it makes it so much more real for people, instead of me just saying “There are 162 chimpanzees on an air force base in Alamogordo, New Mexico.” To be able to talk about an individual, her experiences and her suffering, and how we can have a role in stopping that, it makes it very compelling for people.

Momentum has been building in this issue over the last few years, but some chimps, like NIH’s “surplus” chimps and those privately owned, remain in labs.

We have tremendous momentum right now, if you look at where things were in 2010 in comparison to where things are today. In 2010, NIH wanted to move all of the elderly, sick chimpanzees from New Mexico to Texas for further testing. NIH and biomedical research labs were saying that these chimps were needed for human health research.

Now, the government and agencies agree that this is not the best use of resources, that chimpanzees are special, and that we should exhibit compassion and prudence and care. That’s a big change. We have an opportunity now for everybody to play a role in changing this story and having a good outcome for the surviving chimps who are still in laboratories. All of those chimps who are in labs today have stories to tell, just like Flo’s.

You were the recipient of the 2012 Grassroots Leadership Award. What role does grassroots activism play in national issues like chimpanzee retirement?

I’m so proud of that Award, so thank you for asking about it. I think grassroots activism helps develop interest and attention on an issue to gain recognition from local leaders.

In New Mexico, we have a history of being a breeding center for chimpanzees used in research, and before that, chimps were brought here for use in space-flight training. There is a lot of personal, historical context and interest in chimpanzees here in New Mexico. Strategic application of resources over the course of this campaign has allowed us as an organization to have a strong focus and to engage the public, press, and our leaders on this

PHOTOS, OPPOSITE PAGE: FROM LEFT, JESSI PRINCIOTTO; © JILL HOWARD CHURCH; NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED that after 10 years on “inactive” status over 200 chimpanzees in Alamagordo, New Mexico were going to be shipped off to a research institution in Texas, animal advocates, including AAVS and our members, were outraged and protested. New Mexico’s statewide organization, Animal Protection New Mexico (APNM), found itself at the center of a storm. Thanks in large part to tireless lobbying and outreach by Laura Bonar, APNM was enormously effective in rallying political leaders in the state to join the cause. For her skill and effectiveness in coordinating advocacy efforts, which ultimately led to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) groundbreaking policy to retire hundreds of chimpanzees from research, Laura was recognized by the National Council on Animal Protection (NCAP) with the 2012 Grassroots Leadership Award.

FAR LEFT: Laura and her companion Maeve. ABOVE: Laura Bonar receiving a painting by Sheba, who now resides at the Chimp Haven sanctuary. Celebrating her 2012 Grassroots Leadership Award from NCAP are (l-r), Katie Conlee, Elisabeth Jennings, Bonar, Peggy Cunniff, Sue Leary. LEFT: Although not used in research for over a decade, Flo still resides at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico.

issue. It has helped us strengthen our partnerships with national organizations who work on these issues as well. It’s very important.

We’ve had the city councilors, county commissioners, state legislators, and members of the public all pressing, and now our members of Congress are invested in seeing a good outcome for chimps. It’s good to have a strong grassroots base of supporters who can keep the people who wield power engaged and interested in the issue, and develop champions for an issue.

Do you think that grassroots efforts more accurately reflect the public’s true opinion of a particular issue?

I think it can show what’s really important to a community.

When you do grassroots work, you can get a sense from the community what people are really passionate about. The power of people who live in a community, people from a community, people who are not going away, who are part of the fabric of a community, who are really passionate about changing something; you know, there’s nothing that can match that. It can’t be ignored.

Do you have two or three tips that activists can keep in mind when they are dealing with their legislators?

That’s a great question. When you’re speaking to your own legislators, especially to your elected leaders, you are a voter—well hopefully you are a registered voter. You cast a vote in the election to put them in office or not put them in office, so it’s important to remember that they want to hear from you because of the power you hold as a voter.

It can be very easy to either be intimidated or distracted, so what I do is a sort of a dress rehearsal. If I’m going to have a conversation with somebody I will write down just a few bullet

points of things I want to express. I keep it very simple and to the point. I do a little practice and then deliver my message. The best thing to do is develop a relationship with them. If you’re engaged or passionate, even if you’re not a legislator, there are probably multiple opportunities you’ll have over the years to see your policy-makers in person. You want to be able to develop a relationship with them. Maybe you won’t agree on everything, but you want them to respect and listen to you. I’ve had lots of people tell me no over the years and then eventually, some have told me yes. There are plenty who haven’t told me yes yet, but I’m not giving up on them.

Good advice! One last question. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?

You know, I think we are still in the middle of it. I’m just one small piece of it, but playing a role of ending the use of chimpanzees in invasive research in the U.S. has been amazing.

I know we’re not all the way through, but I think when you look back on this issue over the years, I think many people, including people from this field, doubted that this change could happen within NIH, or the government. Now change could happen for the chimps. We’re certainly not all the way there yet, but we’ve come a long way. I’m excited to see this good work continue and hopefully really see the beautiful results of this accomplishment over the next couple of years.

That sounds great!

Yes, let’s do it! AV Laura Bonar, RN, is a practicing registered nurse and the Program Director for APNM. To learn more about APNM’s efforts to help chimpanzees, visit retirethechimps.org.

AV MAGAZINE

11

CARING AND

LEARNING THE EVOLUTION OF A SANCTUARY

BY CAROLE BASKIN

IN THE BEGINNING The sanctuary began when the search to purchase a pet bobcat kitten brought my husband and I, unwittingly, to a “fur farm” that sold a few cats as pets, but primarily raised them to make fur coats. We bought all 56 kittens to save them from being slaughtered.

To learn how to take care of the cats, we naturally turned to those who would know, the breeders and owners of exotic cats. Initially, we believed what you will still hear from breeders and owners today: exotic cats make good pets, if properly raised and

At four weeks old, Aries, Artemis, and Orian arrived at Big Cat Rescue after their mom was killed by a hunter in Idaho.

trained; are safe if you know how to handle them; and should be privately owned to “preserve the species.”

Believing that exotic cats were suitable pets, our plan was to sell and give away as many of the fur farm kittens as we could to what we thought would be good homes. There was no “profit” to be had, but the proceeds of sales helped offset some of the thousands we had spent purchasing and caring for the cats. The next four years were a time of enormous work caring for the cats and learning about their needs, the world of exotic pet dealing and ownership, and issues that cats in the wild face. There was a gradual, but dramatic evolutionary change in my thinking and beliefs. The change occurred as our experience grew.

GROWING PAINS As we attended animal auctions, we observed that many of the bidders were taxidermists. They would bid on animals in the worst condition to pay low prices, and then take them to the parking lot where the cats would be clubbed to death before taking them home to mount. So, we started outbidding them to save the cats we could from the same fate. Because the cats were often in poor condition, they needed to be nursed back to health before we could offer them to buyers, who we hoped would provide good homes. We purchased other cats to get them out of bad conditions or save them from certain death. For instance, we first

12 2014 FROM THE HEART

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BIG CAT RESCUE

I

NEVER SET OUT TO START A SANCTUARY LIKE BIG CAT RESCUE. My beliefs, and the sanctuary that now reflects them, evolved over time. It involved lessons that came from what I view today as horrible mistakes, and I sometimes feel terrible about how long it took to come to some realizations. But I take great pride in what we have become and are accomplishing, and feel great excitement about what I believe we will accomplish in the future.

saw Sarabi the lioness as a five week old cub at an auction, where the owners were obviously feeding her curdled milk that she was struggling to spit out. We could not stand to watch, so we bought her.

During these years, we increasingly found that cats we thought were placed in good homes were not “working out,” as people called asking if we would take them back. With rare exceptions we did, because we could not bear the thought of the alternatives. As these experiences multiplied during the years, it became increasingly obvious that many of the cats at the auctions were really abandoned pets. People would get them as kittens, and they were reasonably manageable for a couple of years before becoming problematic as they matured. Or, people would buy them not realizing how much work is involved in taking care of exotic cats and discarded them before they matured.

I began reading and hearing about “high mortality rates” for exotic pets, particularly in the first year of life. This was consistent with the many calls I received from people with kittens who were dying. Much of this happens very early in the animals’ lives. In order to get a cat to “bond” with a person, the kittens are typically taken from the mothers shortly after birth. The person becomes the mother, but without the necessary instincts and equipment.

As I learned first hand how difficult and expensive it is to give exotic cats what I viewed to be a good home, and saw how many ended up in bad circumstances or were abandoned, I began to feel that people should be discouraged from owning them as pets.

In addition to buying cats, we had started breeding some under the misguided notion that this was a way to “preserve the species,” and few of our cats were purchased with this in mind. I had not figured out then what seems so obvious to me today, that breeding and caging an animal who was meant to roam free is inherently cruel, and that most of the “homes” these animals live in are unsuitable. We believe exotic cats should not be pets.

Over time, word spread that we were providing a home for exotic cats, and we started receiving calls asking us to take cats people did not want, which we did. Cats were given to us for many reasons, including because owners could no longer manage or afford them, a child was attacked, they were retired from a circus, or they just weren’t wanted any more. We knew if we didn’t take them, these cats would likely be destroyed or sold to auctions or exhibitors.

BIG CAT RESCUE I reached the conclusion that exotic cats should not be pets nor bred for a life in captivity, and stopped purchasing cats as a way to rescue them. Aside from the financial constraints, I had come to realize that, however well intentioned we had been by purchasing the cats, we were supporting the brokers and breeders that were creating so much suffering.

Since then, the cats we have taken in have all been either found, orphaned, or relinquished by owners who either could or would not continue to care for them or were retired by a circus. For instance, Faith, a Florida bobcat cub, was found at five weeks old in a parking lot north of Tampa after her mother had been killed.

Cameron and Zabu, our male lion and white tigress, came from a closed roadside zoo.

At four weeks old, cougar cubs Aries, Artemis, and Orion arrived at Big Cat Rescue after a hunter in Idaho shot their mother. Idaho does not allow carnivores to be rehabilitated and released and, because they are not native to any other state, they could never go free.

Since those early years, the sanctuary has pursued its vision of ending the abuse and abandonment of captive exotic animals and promoting preservation of the species in the wild. We do this by being an “educational sanctuary” with the dual mission of (a) giving our cats the best care we can, while (b) educating the public on the plight of these animals, so that some day there will be no need for a sanctuary like Big Cat Rescue.

Increasingly the plight of these wonderful animals is resonating with the general public, and as a result, laws forbidding breeding and exotic pet ownership have met

Lioness Sarabi at five weeks old. She was one of the early residents at Big Cat Rescue.

with escalating success. State after state have passed laws banning ownership of big cats. They vary in effectiveness, largely due to what “exemptions” from the law are allowed. But, the trend in state law and public opinion is clear. In 2012, we worked with a coalition of other animal protection organizations to introduce the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act to Congress. If passed, this bill would ban the possession and breeding of exotic cats, except in very limited circumstances.

While I am not proud that it took me years of seeing increasing amounts of abuse to reverse the beliefs that I accepted as a novice, I believe the experience from those years has been heavily responsible for the success we have now. I understand the thinking of the pet trade because I was part of it. I believe we are more credible as a source of objective information, specifically because we came from the place in which our opponents remain entrenched.

I genuinely hope that over time their thinking will change the way mine has. In the meantime, I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all of the many wonderful volunteers, thousands of generous financial supporters, and “Advocats,” to whom we owe our recent successes. AV Carole Baskin is the Founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, an accredited sanctuary located outside of Tampa, Florida. Home to about 100 lions, tigers, bobcats, cougars, and other species, Big Cat Rescue is largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated entirely to helping abused and abandoned big cats. Learn more at www.bigcatrescue.org.

AV MAGAZINE

13

PROFILE

Ray Whalen

Professor and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Colorado State University

An educator for 35 years, Ray Whalen, DVM, Ph.D., has devoted much of his career to improving animal welfare and awareness in veterinary instruction and university laboratories. With grants awarded by AAVS’s affiliate, the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation, Dr. Whalen and his associates at Colorado State have developed unique virtual computer programs that can be used to teach canine, equine, and feline anatomy, replacing traditional animal dissection at all learning levels. Drawing on his students’ innate respect for animals as living beings, Dr. Whalen seeks to nurture feelings of care and empathy, in order to mold smart, compassionate veterinary physicians.

14 2014 FROM THE HEART

Do students ever specifically ask to use alternatives, or ask why alternatives are offered instead of animals?

I’ve been doing this for 35 years and the change in the student population has been profound. There’s never a question of why we use these programs instead of more cadavers.

Students have shown in every way, including in surveys, that they are really happy with the programs. They use them all the time.

Can you talk more about this profound change. Has there been an evolution of how students view animals?

When I first started, there were few people who thought of animals as living beings and companions. They saw them as teaching tools, and the cadavers were much like books. The largest change today is that students really treat the animals with respect and compassion and not as objects or just specimens.

Where do the animals you use come from? Are they ethically sourced from shelters?

The animals we use have been euthanized by the humane society because they weren’t adoptable, mostly for medical reasons, and then donated to our teaching facility. Students are always cognizant of where the animals

come from, how they were treated, why they are here. They really respect this, and believe that we have to take full measure of the sacrifice the animals made to be here. I’m really proud that we don’t purposely euthanize any animals just to teach.

Sounds like the students have guided this approach as much as their professors.

The students have always been far ahead of our profession in their concern for the animals and wanting to make sure that no animals who are purpose bred are used for teaching.

Is this something unique to Colorado State University or is it growing through the whole veterinary community?

I think it’s pervasive throughout the veterinary community, and I think students have seen this as an issue, and it’s not recent. It’s been going on for quite some time. There have always been those students who have led the way from very early on.

That must be so gratifying!

Yes, they led the way, and they led the charge.

My colleagues and I were happy to follow along and help in every way we could because of our own ethical beliefs.

Do think that changes in the way that society values animals has influenced the veterinary community?

Yes. Life experience determines how people respond to this environment and when those experiences are so much more enlightened about animal welfare, yes, it makes a huge difference. Educational outreach is very important to establish those sorts of parameters of looking at animals, especially animal use.

Can you talk about active learning, what it is, and how alternatives are incorporated?

Active and experiential learning is not what happens in most classrooms; it’s not students

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY; OPPOSITE PAGE, COURTESY OF RAY WHALEN

AAVS: What motivated you to develop your alternatives?

Whalen: I wanted to change. We wanted to change; there’s a group of us here. We wanted to change the way anatomy is taught here, and really around the world, by providing effective, interactive, and experiential learning tools that students would want to use and that could replace and reduce the numbers of animals in lab studies.

being a vessel into which information is poured. It requires student participation in the learning process, and in a very interactive way. It’s a process of applying yourself to the information, interacting with that information, and using it to direct the path you follow in that learning environment. So, by using our virtual software to teach anatomy, students can direct their individual learning paths.

Do students work directly with animals?

Yes. Another type of experiential learning that we do here, and we do an awful lot of it, is practicing skillsets our students will need as physicians.

How so?

In their freshmen year, we have students doing physical, neurological, optical, and other exams. They do this with their own animals. A student will bring in their own dog or cat and perform non-invasive exams. The animals are familiar with the person, the environment is quiet, and is as friendly as we can make it. If the animal doesn’t like it, the students don’t continue.

But most have a good time being petted and getting cookies.

That’s a fun learning environment for everyone.

It’s all a part of the experiential learning to me.

It also makes the learning very individual and more personable, too.

It has to be. Students now come from so many different backgrounds and learning styles, that we must attempt to provide many ways to approach the infomation, acquire, and learn the necessary skillset. We have such diversity of students that we really have to find a way to reach them. And not just diversity of students, but also diversity of experience.

How did that way of teaching come about in the first place?

Boy, I think people viewed animals differently. It was a more rural or agricultural view then, that animals were commodities or that they were somehow another possession like a farm tractor.

There’s been a big shift from the way they were viewed before.

And you see it in your students?

The students I work with view them as other beings, and as beings, they can experience stress, anxiety or fear, and pain, even though they can’t tell us. Once you don’t view animals as objects, but rather as true beings with whom you are interacting, and that they are true companions, then the way you treat them changes. What you expect of their treatment changes.

Any final thoughts on the students of today?

I’m just glad I’ve lasted long enough to be teaching the students we have today, and to see the changes that have come about.

Teaching veterinary students is a true privilege and profound responsibility. The rewards are without limits.

What’s been one of the primary changes?

I graduated with my DVM from UC Davis in 1976, and my class was the first at Davis to be more than 50% women. That trend has marched forward throughout the profession. I think that the teaching profession is finally catching up, and the new educators who come in are these brilliant, dedicated, fantastic veterinarians who want to teach and see animals as beings. This new generation of teachers, to them, it’s not even a thought process about animal use and animal care. It’s just the way they believe. There’s no need to convince any of them about alternatives.

They just come with a completely different worldview.

Yes. And that worldview, I think, really reflects well on our profession. AV

Sounds like you’re using alternatives and active learning to help squash the status quo.

We had to. When I came into teaching 35 years ago, the status Veterinary students use the virtual computer programs that Dr. Whalen developed to learn anatomy. quo was something that I could not participate in.

Why? When I first came to CSU, they used greyhounds. The greyhound industry in the state had an arrangement to donate the unwanted dogs to the university, and I just felt that it was unethical to participate.

Things simply had to change and have changed. The faculty now couldn’t be more supportive of reducing the number of animals used and finding alternatives.

AV MAGAZINE

15

THE SEED NEVER SEES THE FLOWER

BY TOM REGAN PRESENTED APRIL 5, 2008, IN CELEBRATION OF THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY

THERE IS SOMETHING ARRESTING about these words: the seed never sees the flower. It can be understood and applied in many different ways. When applied to the struggle for animal rights, I understand it in the following way.

You and I will never know the ultimate, the whole and final consequences of the work we do or how our life affects others.

We can and, in a certain way, we must hope that what we do with our life will lead to something good in the future, as the seed gives birth to the flower. But just as the seed never sees the flower, so we will never see, we will never know what our work, what our life, leads to in the end.

We, all of us, have some affect on others, sometimes in small, sometimes in larger ways. And these people, sometimes because of the affect we have had on them, in turn affect the lives of others. And these in turn have affects on others. And so on.

The full truth of the footprints we leave behind is something we will never know.

Some things we do know, though. We do know that the world is a rotten place for literally billions of nonhuman animals. And we do know that things will not change in any fundamental way unless or until many people change how they perceive other animals.

With some notable exceptions (companion animals, for example), most people see other animals as commodities, existing for us, to be used by us, as food or clothing, for example.

This, of course, is not how we see them. We see them as our biological and psychological kin. We understand that what happens to them matters to them, because what happens to them makes a difference to the quality and duration of their lives, quite apart from the desires of human beings.

And so it is, I believe, that all animal rights activists share a common moral outlook: we should not do to these other animals what we would not have done to us. Not eat them. Not wear them. Not experiment on them. Not train them to jump through hoops.

How can we help other people have a change of perception?

How can we help them see these animals as we do? What I have to say is a weak echo of what Gandhi would have said if he had been here.

When he says that “we must be the change we want to see in the world,” he has in mind the creation of a new human being. Not the mindless consumer who makes the economy go round. And not the selfish grabber who is morally disengaged from the world. No, he has in mind the creation of people who embody the change we want to see in the world. And to do that—for people to embody this change—they must experience a change of perception when it comes to other animals.

So, how can we help people have a change of perception— come to see other animals as we do? From my reading of Gandhi, I have come away with five principles.

1. PRACTICE HUMILITY The last thing other animals need is another reason to not be respected. So the first thing we need to insure is that we do

16 2014 FROM THE HEART

not provide that reason, something we do provide if we come across as thinking of ourselves as so much better than, so superior to, the meat-eaters or the fur-coat wearers of the world, for example.

Who wants to be around arrogant, self-righteous people? Who is going to listen to what they have to say? I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the company of such people, I’m looking for the exits. We don’t help other animals by turning off other human beings.

2. BELIEVE IN THE POTENTIAL OF OTHERS In particular, believe in their capacity to change, and believe in their capacity for goodness.

Think of things this way. We are trying to help people have a change of perception. So here is one person who does not know what is happening on factory farms or in puppy mills. And here is another person who knows but doesn’t care. And here is yet another person who knows and cares but not enough to do anything about it.

These people used to be you. They used to be me.

If we can have a change of perception, then there is no reason why the same thing cannot happen to these other people. We need to believe in the possibility of change in their lives before we can help facilitate this change 3. ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE The idea of animal rights does not live in a moral vacuum. Those of us who believe in the rights of animals are for life’s great values, not merely against animal abuse Of course, the media likes to paint a different picture of who we are. It’s true that the media does have a palpable passion to cover animal rights whenever some activists do something illegal or outlandish. So, it is no small wonder that many people have a negative impression of animal rights. Which means, what?

It means that our job as educators takes on added importance.

We are so many Davids. The media, fueled by advertising dollars from the animal abusing industries, are so many Goliaths. We all know how that story ended. And, yes, we all should take inspiration from the outcome.

4. TAKE THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE We cannot make people have a change of perception. All we can do is try to help this happen. The more we force the issue, without preparing the ground, the less likely we are to succeed. So prudence counsels taking people where they are.

They care about their health or the health of their family. They care about scientific misconduct or the ill-effects of prescription medicines. They care about environmental degradation or the extinction of species.

We need to help them see the connections. Help them see why what they care about intersects with what we, as animal rights activists, care about—and, indeed, with what these animals themselves care about. Helping them see the connections will not convert them to animal rights advocacy on the spot. But it can provide them with an opportunity to move forward.

5. STAY ON MESSAGE As animal rights activists, we believe that other animals should not be turned into food, turned into clothes, turned into competitors, turned into performers, turned into tools. We are categorically opposed to all practices and institutions that treat other animals in these ways. This is not something we should be hesitant to say. We should not expect, of course, that vast numbers of people will agree with us just because we’re honest about what we believe. But neither should we conceal our deepest convictions because this is not going to happen.

So, what is involved in becoming the change we want to see in the world?

At a minimum, we become that change if: We practice humility; Believe in the possibility of change in others; Accentuate the positive; Take the path of least resistance; And stay on message.

Imagine we all were to do this in the days and months and years ahead. Will we achieve our objectives? A day when other animals no longer are treated as things? A day when our society no longer thinks that no wrong is done when animals are turned into food, turned into clothes, turned into competitors, turned into performers, turned into tools?

The answers to these questions, of course, we do not know.

Even as we do know this: You once were the seed. Today, you are the flower.

Whatever footprints you leave behind from your life, because of your dedication, more seeds, more flowers, will grace this world, as you meet Gandhi’s challenge to be the change you want to see in the world. AV Tom Regan, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University. He is a distinguished writer of animal liberation and animal rights philosophy, including The Case for Animal Rights and The Animal Rights Debate. Dr. Regan and his wife, Nancy, established the Culture and Animals Foundation, which works to advance animal advocacy through intellectual and artistic expression.

AV MAGAZINE

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how cats love

t

o most of us, the most beautiful word in any language is our own name spoken to us with love by somebody we love back. Cats are no exception. It is strange, when you think about it, that cats love to hear us repeat their names, but they do.

Cats know their name, of course; they know that the name we speak is only for them—their very own, singular name. They know, too, that when we say it with love, as we often do, we are saying something special to them. This gives them enormous pleasure. What is the nature of that pleasure? Why would these solitary animals be driven to ecstasy by the sound of their own name? What are they hearing?

If you ask people who live with cats (I do this all the time) what their cat likes best about them, the first response is invariably something about material life. I asked the novelist Stephanie Johnson what her cat loved in her, and she said, “I know how to open the fridge door, and all he ever does, I swear, is stare at that door. If you were to look into his mind, you would see a white, oblong shape, strangely resembling our family fridge.” If a cat’s life is reduced to sleeping and eating, then clearly the cat will think about this all the time. However, a cat may love you for many different things, some of them material, some of them intangible, some of them obvious, some obscure. We should not expect to exhaust the list any time soon.

Even if we could ask them, they might not be able to enumerate all the ways they love us.

Nobody who lives with cats would believe they are indifferent to humans. Nevertheless, some hardnosed scientists are not convinced that cats feel love and affection. In the nineteenth century, Nathaniel Southgate Shaler, dean of science at Harvard, a great foe of the cat and lover of evidence, said, “I have been unable to find any authenticated instances which go to show the existence in cats of any real love for their masters.” We might argue endlessly about what exactly an authenticated instance would be, but of cat love for humans there are no end to stories, testimonies, and direct observation. Among the best is an account by Frances and Richard Lockridge, mystery

18 2014 FROM THE HEART

story writers (their popular North tales first appeared in The New Yorker in 1936), in their invaluable book, Cats and People (first published in 1950 and still one of the best books ever written about cats), where they write about their beloved Pammy. When Richard was absent during part of World War II, “Pammy was brokenhearted—one does not like to use terms so extreme, but other terms are inadequate. The bottom dropped out of Pammy’s life.” What is the evidence?

She would go to the door of the small room where Richard always was. She knew that he was not there, and, after looking into the room, she would “raise her head and give a small, hopeless cry.” She would turn away and wander the apartment restlessly, returning again and again to the room, only to find it empty. If she heard the front door open, she was all ears, but would know instantly from the footsteps that it was the wrong sound, and she would cry and wander again.

The Lockridges write, “But if, during those weeks, she did not feel deeply the loss of someone she loved, then the actions of cats and men make no sense at all, and the words we use have no meaning.” As I was writing these lines, Minnalouche was sitting perched on the top of my computer monitor. She looked down at my fingers racing across the keyboard, following their movement. Then she glanced up at my face and blinked. I blinked back, and that gesture alone (one of friendship in cat language, indicating that one has no predatory intent) so delighted her that she began to purr loudly. I had not petted her; it was the mere idea of my friendship that had pleased her so. The Lockridges wrote of their Siamese cat, Martini, “When she blinks a little, gently, as we speak her name, it would be easy to think that there is a kind of adoration in her mind.”

Because cats lack a protective antibacterial enzyme (lysozyme —humans and most other animals have it) in their tears, they can blink as infrequently as once every five minutes. (It is hard to believe that blinking exposes the eyes of domestic cats to more bacteria than a wild cat, who would not have to blink in a

PHOTO BY BIGSTOCK

IN THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT FROM THE NINE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF CATS: A JOURNEY INTO THE FELINE HEART (2002), AUTHOR JEFFERY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON EXPLORES HOW CATS EXPERIENCE LOVE. MASSON RECOUNTS EVERYDAY OCCURRENCES WITH OUR CATS, EXPLAINING HOW THEY SIGNIFY UNIQUE EXPRESSIONS OF AFFECTION, REFLECTIVE OF THEIR PERSONALITIES.

BY JEFFERY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON

friendly manner except under unusual circumstances, but perhaps it is so, one of the disadvantages of domestication for cats.) If cats blink rarely, do they only do so when they want to suggest friendly feelings? The medieval church fathers thought it was evil for a cat to stare at you and not blink. Humans are more like the social dog in this respect and respond to a stare with aggression. My cats stare out of affection. They also signal their lack of hostility by deliberately blinking from time to time, perhaps afraid I will misunderstand. Megala is a frequent blinker. He also developed a blocked tear duct about which little can be done medically.

Are the two connected?

Cats look away or blink when feeling friendly.

Dogs, under similar conditions, close their eyes slightly. Humans, according to James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsyl-

vania, are probably the only mammal to use eye-to-eye contact as a means of expressing intimacy (in monkeys and, dogs, and cats, it conveys hostility). This probably goes back to the nursing dyad, where the infant gazes, with something approaching love, into the eyes of the mother. When petted, cats will look up at their companions with a look we interpret—correctly, I believe—as adoration. AV Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is the bestselling author of nine books on the emotional lives of animals. Masson’s groundbreaking 1994 book, When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, was one of the first popular examinations of animal emotions on par with human emotions. His newest book, Beasts: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil, gives readers a new view of negative emotions, such as anger and aggression, and how the purpose of these emotions in animals differs from those in humans.

AV MAGAZINE

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TRIBUTES

HONORING LOVED ONES

In loving memory of my MyMissKitty#1. When life became a burden here, your love meant everything. I’m sorry you became ill and I had to let you go. And now, without your love, what do I do with the burden of your loss? I’ll remember you fondly, ‘til I draw my last breath.

Raymond Nash Westminster, MD In memory of my mother, Rose Emily, who in the 1940s began my education in compassion for our animal friends. And also to honor everyone worldwide who understands and acts, in even the smallest way, to make the lives of animals better. To all who are grieving, remember the Rainbow Bridge.

Carole Rogers Clackamas, OR In loving memory of my son, Dylan Williams, who cared for all animals.

Judi Williams Bailey, CO In honor of St. Francis – please protect our animals.

Thomas Schaeffer Shoemakersville, PA In memory of Autumn, Hennessy, and Belly, the best friends my husband and I ever had. Rest in peace guys. We love you.

Susan Petersen Blairstown, NJ In memory of my two beautiful, rescued Siberian Huskies, Tasha and Lobo. Thank you for years of happiness.

Guylaine St. Jean Bartlesville, OK

20 2014 FROM THE HEART

A tribute may honor the memory of a faithful companion animal or beloved relative. It may also acknowledge a life event or the achievements of a close friend or family member. For many years, we have been moved by messages of both joy and sorrow from our members, who in just a few words express a range and depth of emotions from the heart. This particular issue of the AV includes a generous outpouring of feelings from our most thoughtful supporters. You may also choose to memorialize and honor the special animals and people in your life with a message in our magazine—please see the enclosed envelope. Your contribution will help further our important work on behalf of innocent animals. Thank you for your compassion and commitment to our mission.

In honor of Nancy Skudrna Luiz for her compassion toward all animals.

Clarice Prange Forest Park, IL In loving memory of our beloved dog Tyge.

Renee Strauss West Chester, PA For my beloved cat, Oliver, who chose me to live with. He never failed to greet me, even on the last day of his life.

David Conklin Torrance, CA

In memory of Oscar. We miss “our little guy” every day. He left a lifetime of memories with us.

Lynne Hammette Collingswood, NJ In memory of Jimmie Poulin.

We miss our beautiful boy.

Trish Poulin West Hartford, CT In memory of Franny. I think of you every day. You were a special feline friend.

Donna Wieting Takoma Park, MD

In memory of Lorie. He will always have my heart. He will always be missed.

Judith Ziet Forest Hills, NY

In honor of Alvina Marion, and in memory of Taffy, Coco, Buttons, Zippy, and Jasper.

Virginia Green Bristol, PA

In memory of my mother, Helen Pansy Munier, who loved all animals.

Jay Munier Fairview, NJ

In memory of Nick, the only dog who hugged! You were loved!

Mary Krohnke Denison, IA

In honor of all the dogs to whom I’ve had the pleasure of being a companion.

Flo Sanchez Oxnard, CA In memory of Stormy, the little grey squirrel who could. We will miss you.

Lorie Zerweck Hermosa Beach, CA In memory of Pepper—gone from my sight but not my heart. You were my world and life. Wait for me so we can cross the Rainbow Bridge together.

Julia Lawrence Bourbonnais, IL

In memory of Mitzi.

Stephanie Ford Corvallis, OR In memory of Charlie and Legs.

Muriel Sack Lompoc, PA In memory of my cat Susie.

Patricia Joralemon Prescott, AZ In honor of Tom Manley (two paws) for his love of four paws.

Clarice Prange Forest Park, IL In memory of my cat Susie.

Patricia Joralemon Prescott, AZ

In memory of Elizabeth Coe Crowley.

Cameron Crowley Atlanta, GA In memory of Rascal, Arthur, Al, Amber, Pepper, and Minnie.

Joseph Fiorillo Los Angeles, CA In memory of Susan D. Thrope.

Her soul and spirit will always be with us.

Jane A. Mullen Arlington, VA In memory of my dog, Dee Dee. Marie Masterson Toms River, NJ In memory of Roxy, a very sweet dog.

Nancy Reinecker Wichita, KS In memory of Lucy. You were the best thing that ever happened to me.

Margaret Ball West Chester, PA In memory of Bugsy and Mister Cat. Nancy Harman Huntington Beach, CA In memory of Elizabeth Ann Walker.

Victoria Minetta Los Angeles, CA In memory of Helen Orletsky.

Leslie Holden Cincinnati, OH In memory of Sargent and Sebastion. We loved them so.

James and Nancy Gibson Naples, FL

In memory of my parents, Reverend and Mrs. George Connard, who taught me compassion for all living things.

Sarah Johnson Feasterville Trevose, PA

In memory of my beloved Scottie.

I love you and miss you always.

Alma Schuyler Newport, NY

In memory of mice Buddy and Willow.

Elaine Mills Arlington, VA

In memory of Blue.

Jennifer Homola New Orleans, LA

In memory of Squirrel.

Alana Willroth Saint Paul, MN

In memory of Gunner. I miss you more than words can say.

Heidi Strom Stevensville, MT

In memory of Buster, my best friend who died.

Irene Slater Cave Creek, AZ

In memory of Tigger, beloved by Aaron, Diane, and Ethan McIntyre, who cared for him from the day he was born.

Sue Leary and Rob Cardillo Ambler, PA

In memory of my rescues: Lacy, Lucky, Suzee, Teddy, and Peanut.

Marilyn Meyers Washington, DC

In memory of my cat Sandy.

Marie Lejcar Saint Charles, IL

In memory of Joseph Donahue.

James Clark Reading, PA

In memory of Artie Slater, a great son.

Irene Slater, Cave Creek, AZ

In memory of Susan D. Thrope.

Her soul and spirit will always be with us.

Jane A. Mullen Arlington, VA

In memory of Kelly, our rescue mix from the Berks Humane Society who lived to 13 years.

Marilyn McGoldrick Reading, PA In honor of Debbie, Traci and Andrea, who care about kindness.

Robin Tierney Daytona Beach, FL In memory of John Black.

Barbara Carpino New York, NY In memory of my dog Tristan.

Paula Mayer Rocklin, CA In memory of Sofie Nadzan. I still miss my beautiful girl!

Danika Nadzan Elizabethton, TN

In memory of my super special dog, Jasper.

Diane Brodie Portland, OR

In memory of my cat, Zippy.

Margaret Welen Santa Fe, NM

In honor of all my pets.

Marie Lejcar Saint Charles, IL

In memory of Gandhi.

Margaret Casey Brawley, CA

In memory of Kelly.

Sue Leary and Rob Cardillo Ambler, PA

In memory of my beloved cat, Queenie.

Wanda Blake Citrus Heights, CA

In memory of Minkee and Grace, two of the best cats in the world.

Tina Johnson Lodi, CA

In memory of Christina Gray.

Edna Shuttleworth Livonia, MI

In memory of Valentine Sellati, to continue your love of life and freedom for all God’s living creatures.

Anita Sellati Plantation, FL In memory of Flower.

Gene Brewer Northfield, VT In memory of Dudley and Callie.

George Vagelakos East Stroudsburg, PA In memory of Mack and Lobo— such good dogs!

James McGrath Napa, CA In memory of my cat, Gabriel.

Marilyn McGoldrick Reading, PA In memory of Robert B. Meyer.

Maria Meyer Potomac, MD In memory of Tye. Donelda Kalsch Manahawkin, NJ In memory of Mikey—my treasure, never forgotten.

Binell Martino North Ridgeville, OH In memory Charles Brumley, beloved friend.

Karla Brieant Paul Smiths, NY

In memory of Tina Nelson.

Charles Malinauskas Chalfont, PA In memory of retired racing greyhounds: Rick, Gracie, Sallie, Meggie, Lexie, Lady, and Lance. And in honor of Sonny, our current retired racing greyhound.

Jean Perry Ambler, PA In memory of Leo and Elfriede Lewer, and Arthur Koppen, MD. I think of you every day!

Tanya Saunders New York, NY

AV MAGAZINE

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TRIBUTES CONTINUED In loving memory of my gorgeous shaded sable and white English Shepherd, UCD Christina. As a certified therapy and R.E.A.D dog, she brought so much joy to nursing home and assisted living residents, cancer and rehab patients, school kids, and, of course, to me, her guardian for 11 ½ years. Everyone who met Christina admired and adored her.

Leslie Freeze Johnson Topeka, KS In honor of all companion animals—they are our teachers.

Margaret-Ann Clemente Half Moon Bay, CA In memory of MacKenzie Calento.

We will miss our little boy very much. You were a very strong kitty right up to the very end. We had you in our life for almost 18 years, but finally during the last 5 years, you let us show you how much we loved you. Thank you, Kenzie!

Ginny and Pat Calento Albuquerque, NM In memory of Margery Miller.

Muriel Miller Castleton, NY In memory of our two beautiful Dalmatians, Dottie and Bindi, and our Flame Point Siamese, Moonbi.

Nina and Stephen Waite Island Park, ID In honor of Dominic Mazzulo, a most compassionate person and animal lover.

Dominic Mazzulo Brigantine, NJ In memory of my mother and father.

Gloria Walsh Louisville, KY In memory of MacDuff, Willy, and Flip—my angel canines. Also, Squeeker, my angel feline.

Eileen Smith Emmaus, PA

22 2014 FROM THE HEART

In memory of my dog Bill V, a great partner and best friend.

Scott Sargent Temple City, CA In memory of Pauline Jacintho.

Vincent Jacintho Bridgewater, MA In memory of Susan Bashore. I know you’re watching over my daughter Mary and her rescued pets—over 40 large animals rescued and living the life intended.

Thomas Schaeffer Shoemakersville, PA In memory of Miss Kitty.

Barbara Jacobson Portland, OR In memory of Dale D. Keyser, DVM. William Keyser Berwyn, PA

In memory of Chili. Such a big personality in such a little body.

Marilyn Meyers Washington, DC

In honor of my friend Julie, for her kind and loving heart for animals.

Karla Brieant Paul Smiths, NY

In memory of Alfonso Vazquez, a loving father who raised us to love and care for animals.

Noemi Vazquez San Diego, CA

In memory of Corrie, the Corgie.

Nancy Gail Marquez Millbrae, CA

In memory of Clancy, our magnificent rescued lab who loved to be hugged.

Jean Weiser Woodland Hills, CA In memory of our son, Richard C. Pfersdorf.

James and Sylvia Pfersdorf Tucson, AZ In memory of my sweet furball, Bailey. I miss her terribly and only wish I could have had more precious time with her. Rest in peace, you will never be forgotten.

Alicia Aubart Maplewood, MN

In memory of Suzie Franklin Defazio (1953-2013).

Richard Abbott Santa Paula, CA

In memory of Maggie, a sweet, grey-haired, green-eyed cat. I will never forget you.

Nancy Reinecker Wichita, KS

Throughout my life, there have been too many losses. In memory of all my kitties, dogs, and birdies that are in heaven.

Vicky Knoedler Middleton, WI

In memory of Oscar. You were so special to us and are in our hearts forever.

Lynn Hammette Collingswood, NJ

In memory of my beloved Zoe. Deni Selin Salt Lake City, UT In memory of Cooper. You came to us after being rescued from Hurricane Katrina. We will always love you.

David and Jennifer Gile St. Johnsbury, VT

In memory of Hieronymus.

Kevin McGuire Deal, NJ In memory of Red. Chrystine Nicholas Bedford, NY

In memory of Carol J. Shields.

Daniel Shields Traverse City, MI

In memory of the animals slaughtered at that Denmark zoo. And in honor of those people protesting senseless animal killings.

Michael Scalzo Philadelphia, PA

In memory of Tillie, “Best dog later!”

Suzette McLain Clemmons, NC

In memory of Rosie.

William Havice Wakefield, MA

In loving memory of Mrs. Patricia Whiteley.

Frances Dillingham San Francisco, CA In memory of Hissy cat and Dottie dog.

Ada Hollingsworth Williamstown, NJ In memory of Sophie, Grady, and Vinnie, my sweet ones. I miss you!

Annette Johnson Fair Oaks, CA In memory of Gizelle, Fusi, and Bridget: loyal and loving pets, best friends. From mommy Elaine.

Elaine Durell West Palm Beach, FL In memory of Frisco, my cherished Siamese cat, my buddy and friend.

Susan Foster Ft. Myers, FL In memory of my dog Heidi, who passed on March 1, 2014. She gave me great joy.

Elaine Durell West Palm Beach, FL In memory of Bob—from former feral to most loving cat ever.

Irv Brenner Palo Alto, CA In memory of all of our rescued greyhounds.

Jean Perry Ambler, PA In memory of Joseph Bricking, a good man.

Mary-Shannon Matley Rosanky, TX In memory of Dominic and Antoinette Mazzulo—wonderful parents.

Dominic Mazzulo Brigantine, NJ

In memory of Lillian Stevens.

Thank you for being a loving, caring, and generous mom. We love you. See you in heaven.

Paula Stevens Merrillville, IN

In memory of the little brown wild mouse with a neurological problem who was euthanized April 8, 2014. I wanted to help her.

Marcia Mueller Spokane, WA

In memory of all pets and animals lost in the southern California wildfires of May 2014.

Noemi Vazquez San Diego, CA

In memory of Adam.

Jean Eaves St. Charles, MO

In memory of Leonard V. Shuttleworth, wonderful husband and father.

Edna Shuttleworth Livonia, MI In memory of Brandon and Jane.

Ruth Holmes Glendora, CA In memory of my cats: Shadow, Willow, and Milo.

Krista Becker East Meadow, NY In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Scalzo, Jr. Michael Scalzo Philadelphia, PA In memory of Coti, a faithful miniature schnauzer.

Shirley Kaub Madison, WI In memory of our German shepherd, Mosa. My sweet girl, you will never be forgotten.

Nancy Renecker Wichita, KS In memory of my three Boxers: Kandi I & II and Brandi. And also in memory of George, the Irish Wolfhound, and all the lost and/or rescued dogs.

Karen Karvelis Richmond, VA In memory of June, a Greyhound with a beautiful soul.

Phyllis Hanicke Saint Louis, MO In honor of all my pets. Animals are the best—treat them well!

Shelley Davis King of Prussia, PA

In memory of Anita Leary. Sending our empathy and love.

Pam and Jerry Cesak LaJolla, CA In memory of William Cerny, Jr., who died from bladder cancer on March 27, 2014. I love you.

Katherine Cerny Deer Park, NY

In memory of Duffy Aime Chapdelaine Silver Spring, MD In memory of all of the animals killed in labs. I won’t forget your sacrifice.

Caroline Kane Valley Village, CA In memory of Fathom and Sheena—never forgotten.

Alan Cinquino Winter Haven, FL In memory of Mousse the Mooch.

Barbara Rosenzweig Albuquerque, NM

In memory of Gray, our last cat. We are too old and unable to care for any pets at this time in our lives.

Elsie Slabe Pittsburg, PA In memory of Veronica.

Mary Livingston Georgetown, SC In memory of Sophie Hamlin.

Louise Feulner Maywood, NJ In honor of Terry the horse.

Sylvia Foley Redford, MI

In memory of Coco Estes.

Ruth Dehne Chicago, IL

In honor of our best friends, Woody and Riley.

Kathy Browne Independence, MO

In memory of Bizzaro.

Susan Munzer Melrose Park, PA

In memory of Ghandi.

Margaret Casey Brawley, CA

In memory of Renee Konrad Corinne Konrad Boulder, CO

In memory of Edith L. Foster.

Betsy Bragdon North Berwick, ME

In memory of Presley—my tears still flow since I lost you on Easter Sunday, 3 days before your 13th birthday. I rescued you from a puppy mill, but I think it was you who rescued me. You were the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

You made me laugh every day. I love and miss you, baby boy. Mommy.

Patti Hopkins Colorado Springs, CO

In honor of my cat Dylan, who grooms me every day.

Sandra Pendleton Fairhope, AL

In memory of Nicholas and Trellie.

Elizabeth Herron Graton, CA In memory of Gus and Shilo.

Nancy Aldrich Kennesaw, GA In memory of William Cave, past President when I first joined AAVS. Richard Abbott Santa Paula, CA In honor of 40 baby macaques in the approved study at the University of Wisconsin.

Donna Almquist Greenbelt, MD In memory of my Pitbull, Dixie. All love, all the time.

Lawrence Hansen La Jolla, CA In honor of Riley’s 3rd birthday and Onyx’s 4th birthday. May they have many more!

Judith Robert Belchertown, MA

In memory of Salty Marcoux.

Alice Marcoux Providence, RI In memory of Veronica.

Mary Livingston Georgetown, SC

In memory of Grace. We miss you!

Love, Mom, George, and Ella.

Rosemarie Alleva Malvern, PA In memory of my cats and birds.

John Kent Woodside, NY In memory of all the animals that suffer and die by the hands of humans.

Rhea Damon Calabasas, CA

You can honor or memorialize a companion animal or animal lover by making a donation in his or her name.

Gifts of any amount are greatly appreciated. A tribute accompanied by a gift of $50.00 or more will be published in the AV Magazine. At your request, we will also notify the family of the individual you have remembered. All donations are used to continue AAVS’s mission of ending the use of animals in biomedical research, product testing, and education.

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Members’ Corner This issue’s theme, ‘‘From the Heart,’’ is most fitting, given that as an AAVS member, you are intensely passionate about our mission and work.

You act from the heart. When called to action, you are quick to send letters, sign petitions, make phone calls, and write to newspapers about issues ranging from pound seizure to genetically modified organisms. By asserting yourself to government and corporate decision makers, you have made a difference for millions of animals.

You give from the heart. The tremendous generosity of our members is astounding. Be it for sanctuaries in need or development of alternatives, your gifts are timely and reliable. And I must give special recognition to our Monthly Partners and members of our Caroline Earle White Society. We could not be more appreciative of your overwhelming support.

You speak from the heart. I truly value the opportunity to converse with and assist our members, who are intelligent, articulate, inquisitive, and outspoken. You let us know exactly how you feel about AAVS, other organizations, companies, political representatives, media outlets, legislation, cat food, and anything else on your mind. I sincerely appreciate your opinions and feedback, and it’s even okay if we occasionally disagree!

You share from the heart. I can’t count all of the wonderful stories relayed from our members about their families, companion animals, travels, jobs, volunteer efforts, and other facets of their lives. Your experiences are inspiring, amazing, impressive, and insightful, and I feel all the more enriched, informed, and motivated when I hear them.

You emote from the heart. So often, I find myself emotionally moved while reading the touching tributes that we regularly receive about family members who have passed over the “Rainbow Bridge.” Whether furry, feathered, scaly, or submerged, the animals in our lives are so very important, and AAVS members are unconditionally devoted to their companions.

We are so grateful to have you as an ally in our efforts to protect innocent creatures. On behalf of the AAVS Staff and Board, I extend my heartfelt thanks for all you do to help and give hope to the animals.

Chris Derer, Director of Development & Member Services

24 2014 FROM THE HEART

COMPLIMENTS FROM THE HEART “Thank you for all you are doing to help the animals. You inspire me to keep fighting for them, no matter how difficult or slow the process of raising awareness in others.”

—Gaile P.

“Your publications show how AAVS is doing outstanding work for all the animals, and creating a more humane world to live in.”

—Violet L.

“AAVS President Sue Leary is an amazing advocate. I’m proud to be involved with her and the organization.”

—Bruce W.

“I’m very picky about where I give my money, which shows how much I believe in the good work that AAVS does.”

—Ramona K.

“AAVS never loses sight of its mission. There is no waste or unnecessary marketing fluff. Their cause is very valuable and they live up to it, with science and compassion.”

—Craig K.

“Thanks to Animalearn for helping me show young students that biology and anatomy can be taught with kindness, and without harming animals.”

—Kathy M.

A Little TLC Goes A Long Way. Arden, Diane, Jimmy, Mason, Onyx, Quilla, and Riley were born in a research lab. But today their futures are bright because AAVS is committed to provide for their Total Lifetime Care. Thanks to our Members who have generously supported our TLC for Chimps campaign, these babies are safe, living with their Moms at Chimp Haven, the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

Join our efforts to secure their future. www.aavs.org/supportTLC

To send a donation via mail, please use the enclosed self-addressed envelope and write TLC on the form. Thank you!

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

Anatole France

Meet some of the animals who have awakened the souls of the AAVS staff.

Row 1: Jasi (Crystal Schaeffer).

Row 2: Minouche (Kim Paschen) and Hershey, with brothers Liam and Owen (Kat Lewis). Row 3: Rocky (Julie Sinnamon), Lisbeth (Nicole Green) and Max and Basil (Chris Derer). Row 4: Mina (Caitlin McGrother) and CiCi (Vicki Katrinak).