December Vigil/Protest at UCSF Dedicated to Wo/man's Best Friend - DOG - Canis Familiaris

[Guest guest]

Dear Animal Companions, Advocates, Vigilers, Lovers & Liberators:

 

 

The Vigil-Protests at UCSF continue into an unprecedented 9th consecutive month

this year, with the focus on dogs for the month of December (and January).

Dates and times for December follow:

 

December 18, Thursday, 11:30 am, bring canine comanions if you wish

 

December 30, Tuesday, 4 pm to 6 pm, Candlelight Vigil (bring candles

and canine companions if you wish)

 

UCSF is located at 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco; see below for directions

for public transportation. And by the way, if you are creative and can make a

sign (re wo/man's best friend), please do so and bring to protest/vigil.

 

UPDATE RE DOGS HELD AT UCSF: This is not an easy subject to write or read about

- especially if you are someone who has an affinity for dogs. However, the

truth must be told regarding UCSF protocols that show up to 390 dogs to be

exploited and (ab)used in 10 different research projects at the university.

Where to begin - but at the beginning....

The beginning for some German shepherd pups at UCSF - possibly from their

first day of birth - means being taken from their mother to undergo surgery to

remove a group of nerves located in the area where the dog's neck meets his/her

upper chest; the operation is called a stellectomy, and it is not performed for

the pups' well being but to simulate a diseased condition for the purposes of

the experiment. After surgery the puppies will be returned to their mother.

Two weeks later the pups are again taken away from their mother (for the last

time) to be administered morphine and general anesthesia and to have their

hearts " rapidly excised " (i.e., cut out) for further study. Other puppies will

not undergo the previously described surgery but will receive injections of

drugs to cause " global denervation " (i.e., blocking of transmission of nerve

impulses). Some of the pups (64 in total) may live to be as old as six months;

nevertheless, all will meet the same fate: experiments re

their hearts, an early demise, and loss of their hearts to research. Other

animals - 64 pigs, 218 rabbits and 75 mice - meet similar fates in the project.

Also 80 rats are used as models for renal disease in the project. From these

experiments UCSF researchers expect to extrapolate more knowledge about " sudden

cardiac death...the leading cause of mortality in this country " and " insight

into the etiology of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of

death in the first six months of life. " The project is titled " Noninvasive

Assessment of Cardiac Adrenergic Function, " Project #10000961. (Words in quotes

are taken from the UCSF project's protocol.)

The above project could just as well be titled: Senseless, Heartless

Researchers Desensitize and Cut Out the Hearts of Sentient Beings Under the

Guise of Learning more about Sudden Cardiac Death and Sudden Infant Death

Syndrome (SIDS). For without a doubt, they could learn more meaningful

information about human heart disease through clinical research on consenting

human beings, autopsies, in vitro technology and other methods that do not

exploit and abuse nonconsenting animals.

Anyhow, the previously mentioned project re dogs is just one of the

research protocols that Vigil for Animals acquired from UCSF earlier this year.

More recently we requested and received documents that show UCSF receipts of

male and female German shepherds from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and

mongrels from Butler Farms (Clyde, NY) during the past five years for the above

project, which expires in June 2004 (unless it receives an extension). My guess

is that at some time after their arrival the female shepherds are impregnated,

then later give birth only to loose their pups to research. I am sorry to

report the details of the project, but it represents one of the reasons why the

protests need to continue at UCSF. Thus I hope you can join us at one of the

upcoming protests.

 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO UCSF: UCSF is located at 513 Parnassus Avenue in San

Francisco, easily reached by the N Judah streetcar (get off at Arguello, and

then walk up the hill to Parnassus) or the the 6-Parnassus bus or 43-Masonic

bus, both of which stop in front of UCSF on Parnassus Avenue.

 

Bob O'Brien (for the Vigil)

PS: Happy holidays (if that means anything to you)! And by the way, coming

soon is the Fund for Animals Holiday Party/Vegan Potluck on December 21, Sunday,

2-6 pm, at Fort Mason Center (San Francisco), Building C, Rooms 355 & 362; if

you haven't heard about it, consider yourself invited and bring a friend (canine

companions welcome). For more info, call the Fund for Animals at 415-474-4020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now