Why You Hurt Me?

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 Why You Hurt Me?

Its happening again!

I'm so scared, I cannot move. The fear is like a wedge driving deep into my chest.

Oh please no, please no, the pain, it hurts, it hurts, make it stop! Oh please make it stop.

No where to go, can't get free, not again, I feel so sick, just let me lie here...

The pain is so bad, can't stop cry a little, but must be quiet to stay unseen.

Head ache, ears rushing, nausea, my jaws grip, agony keeps coming,

wave, after wave, after wave.

     Empathy. It is my first memory, as an infant, of a collie guiding me through a crawl hole under the partition of a stall shed, tractor parked behind me, my faithful fur mother guiding me out of danger's way. Empathy and respect for all that is, all that lives, has guided me since. To watch in wonder at how each and every living thing exists and cohesively participates in the dance of togetherness on this infinitesimally minute grain in the middle of some unfathomably large void.

     The garter snake reminds me at a robust and bursting age of four that one entity should respect another. The quick sharp nip to the web between my thumb and index finger drove the point home - "I may wriggle and crawl along the ground, but I am a sentient being, and you will respect my place on this earth". At thirteen, I looked in to the shed where our family German Shepard Shebba lay, cold and miserable with no food or water. As I looked in her eyes I had an epiphany -- that other living things could suffer, feel discomfort, ask for help, ask to be connected and respected as a fellow being, to desire to be treated as I wished to be treated. My Shebba was never hungry, cold, or thirsty again and faithfully stayed an earth mate with me until her final days.

     Soon afterward we moved out on a 15 acre farm in the middle of a half woodland Michigan area. We were poor and for us it was a natural thing, an honor to learn to hunt, and to provide game for the family to eat. And I did so, until I left home at 17, but during that time I learned my first lesson in how another living thing, an animal, a chipmunk in this case, can feel not only pain but true agony. Our garden was being nibbled on and I figured I would take care of the little varmint who was doing the damage to the crops. Waiting with a .22 caliber rifle in hand I finally had the chance to nail that critter, and I did in one shot, at a good distance I might add. But, as I walked up on it what I saw was a small helpless little creature withering and twisting in agony because I had hit it with a gut shot. And I felt so ashamed. Miserably ashamed at what I had done and what that innocent soul was now having to go through. I have never forgotten and I will never forget. It was the fist time I experienced how personal taking a life really is.

     Years have gone by since then and much experience in between. I did my eight years in the Marine Corps and would not have hesitated to do what I must. While there I learned shear pain due to a gasoline jug bursting in flames across my chest and right upper arm. I worked eight years more after that as a correction officer, once even at the point of holding a shot gun on a prisoner who was trying to escape, moments away from having to pull the trigger. And I would have. I had to quit as a correction officer after eight years because I could simply not take the stress and I could not envision spending the rest of my life watching men trapped in their segregation cells, pacing, doing everything in their power to stay sane, for years, sometimes for life. I chose to retain my compassion and resigned. I feel the same way now about caging other living things.

     This was a turning point where I dedicated my life to giving, to teaching, and have done so for over 22 years. In doing so I had the chance to teach at a college founded in the philosophy of meditation, compassion, and the belief that we are all connected -- every living thing is connected to every other living thing and the actions of one on another affect all. Namaste.

     You should now have a solid understanding of why I position myself readily against using living entities for testing. I am a realist however, and do know that humanity will not suddenly stop using other living things in our experiments (Carbone, 2012; Mohan & Huneke, 2019). I do know that using animals for testing has helped us to survive by finding cures to diseases and illnesses. It is understood that the decisions to change rest quite a bit on money, and profit (Logan, 2014). I do hope however that we teach our young ones and teach our elders well, as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young advised us (Melodies and Memories, 2021). This includes us by the way, because we should always remain as young at heart as possible. Making sure some of our focus stays on art, music, and literature will kindle inner emotional knowledge. Ensuring we solidify our knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will position us to see the best way forward through the changes we need. To immobilize ourselves by staying specialized is akin to trapping ourselves behind the bars of a cage of our own doing.

     We need all of these, this knowledge and skill, so that we can create alternate technologies that satisfactorily replace subjecting living entities to the horrors of our testing (Mandal & Parija, 2013). The more we encourage ourselves and others to learn and use math and science gives humanity the ability to become those who create the chemical-biological-computational solutions that will drive our future. We have already begun with stem cell and hybrid tissue/hardware devices to replicate real human living systems (Logan, 2014). We will soon see the advent of miraculous advances in these technologies and finally be able to rest our conscience knowing that we can at last practice the concept "all life is sacred" (Gro Films Storytelling, 2012).


References

Carbone L. (2012). The Utility of Basic Animal Research. The Hastings Center report, Suppl, S12–S15. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.101

Gro Films Storytelling. (2012, May 12). Great Spirit. YouTube. Nahko and Medicine for the People. Retrieved on February 16, 2023 from https://youtu.be/0M7nETLOsKQ?t=200

Logan, E. (2014, June). Born Free? TCE Technology. Retrieved on February 16, 2023, from https://burzynski10201.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/contentserver.pdf

Mandal, J., & Parija, S. C. (2013). Ethics of Involving Animals in Research. Tropical Parasitology, 3(1), 4–6. https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-5070.113884

Melodies and Memories. (2021, May 16). Teach Your Children. YouTube. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young (1970). Retrieved on February 16, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAu1T6syiD4

Mohan, S., & Huneke, R. (2019). The Role of IACUCs in Responsible Animal Research, ILAR Journal, 60(1), pp. 43–49, https://doi.org/10.1093/ilar/ilz016 

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