As I began planning for my trip to the IUPS Congress in Christchurch, my anxiety level was raised by an announcement in the NABR newsletter that ALF, the Animal Liberation Front, was targeting two meetings of vivisectors scheduled for Christchurch, NZ during the summer of 2001. This could not be viewed as a hollow threat, because ALF had already demonstrated violent tendencies in the US and Europe. However, there was hope that their impact would be less prone to violence in a country like New Zealand which does not have a long history of animal rights demonstrations. The Congress organizers announced that they were working with security services in the country to ensure that the efforts of ALF and demonstrators would not impact the Congress.
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While I expected to see animal rights demonstrations at the Congress, I was not prepared for the coverage the demonstrators received from the local newspaper. When I arrived at the Congress, I was greeted with fairly positive front-page coverage of the demonstrators and their issues. The response of a leading research scientist was buried on an inside page of the newspaper. It appeared that the media was taking the side of the demonstrators and there was no attempt to engage the demonstrators in discussion. The challenge for me was what could I do so far from home in order to respond to the efforts of the demonstrators.
Well, I found a way! Remembering that I had some materials in my arsenal, or at least in my suitcase, I dug out my “I’m Alive Thanks to Animal Research” tee shirt and a Medical Alert card that had been distributed by Coulbourn Instruments about 10 years ago (it definitely helps to save things in one’s appointment book, something that I could not have done with a PDA). The card states, “I believe that animals should not be used in scientific or medical research. If I am unable to speak for myself in a medical emergency, do NOT treat me using any
medical or surgical devise, procedure, or drug which was developed using animals as experimental subjects.”
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If the animal rights demonstrators were serious in their views, they would gladly accept and sign the cards and carry them in their wallets and purses. As one walked around Christchurch, one noticed handbills plastered onto light poles decrying the use of animals in research. Similarly, stuffed animals gutted, stained with red dye, and impaled with wires could be found hanging all around Cathedral Square. Would there be efforts to do the same to one of the scientists attending the Congress?
The activists’ demonstration schedule was readily available in the newspaper and in handbills distributed around the city. Noon each day was the time for the demonstrators to gather at the convention center, to start shouting slogans, to carry their signs, and to beat their drums. Apparently, the security forces were told not to confront the demonstrators unless they caused trouble, meaning the destruction of property or violence. It was apparent that both the demonstrators and the security forces did not want direct conflict, allowing the demonstrators to express their views without generating police action.
As a result, it appeared safe enough for me to go out amongst the demonstrators to engage them in discussion during their demonstrations.
Fortunately, I was able to convince some of my colleagues attending the Congress to do the same. To them, let me express my sincere appreciation, because unless we engage the demonstrators, the only message that will be heard will be the message of the demonstrators.
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Did I accomplish anything by talking to the demonstrators? Probably not in the short term, but possibly at some time in the future one or more of them might actually realize what I had to say had merit. A standard mantra was “Nothing has ever come from animal re-search.” No matter how hard I tried to explain the role of animals in the
development of cures and treatments for disease, the activists had an example that in their minds proved me wrong. Even if it were okay to use animals, they wouldn’t buy it, “…because we are not like animals.” The fact that over 90% of our genetic material is the same as lower species and that anatomically we are very similar to other mammalian species meant nothing to them.
When I asked a 20 year-old if she had been vaccinated, she responded that she had, “…but it was at a time when she could not speak for herself. Had she been able, she would have refused the vaccines.” A 15-year old told me “we are all going to die anyways, so why do we have to kill animals to develop cures for humans,” cures that she had no desire to benefit from. I told her about my father who had triple bypass surgery when he was 69 and 82 years old and explained how coronary bypass surgery had been developed through research on dogs. I then made the mistake of telling her that my father died when he was 91 years old. She quickly replied, “See, he died anyways.” She dismissed my argument that he had 22 years of life that allowed him to see grandchildren born, see them graduate and even marry.
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The most successful aspect of my interactions with the demonstrators involved their willingness to accept the Medical Alert card. In a September 6th article published by Tom DeWeese on the Cybercast News Service, he wrote “The next time you are in a discussion with an animal rights advocate, ask them if, before entering a hospital, they will sign a release that says they will not accept any medical procedures or cures that were obtained from animal research? See if they have the guts to put their own lives on the line for their irrational blathering.” Much to my surprise, the animal rights advocates that I met in Christchurch were more than glad to
acc.ept the Medical Alert cards, and even willing to sign them when I urged them to do so. The good news, as I said to the security forces witnessing the demonstrators signing their cards, was that through my efforts and those of the others who distributed the cards to the demonstrators, the medical care cost for the New Zealand government should be reduced in the coming years. However, that assumes that the demonstrators didn’t tear up the cards after the demonstrations.
When I returned to the convention center after my encounters with the demonstrators, Congress attendees would ask me what it was like talking to them. While I was uncertain how best to describe the encounters, I decided to respond, “It’s like talking to your teenager.” I guess the description was not too far off the mark. After talking to a 15-year old vegan for about 10 minutes, she looked at me and said, “You sound like my father!”
Martin Frank |
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