From: "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Al Queda almost got it right...

To Whom It May Concern,

Watching the Al Queda terrorist training videos on CNN -- the ones showing dogs being callously put to death using chemicals wafting out of nearby jars, it occurred to me that these experiments on cute little puppies for the sake of science were missing just one thing:

White Lab Coats.

Had the experimenters been wearing White Lab Coats instead of White Robes, they could have tortured the same animals, and many more, and done it for the exact same reason, or any other reason, without any public condemnation whatsoever.

In August 1967, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission /  Division of Technical Information published a booklet for the general public titled ANIMALS IN ATOMIC RESEARCH.  It was part of their Understanding The Atom collection, which contains more than 40 documents covering topics such as "Our Nuclear World", "Nuclear Propulsion for Space", "Plowshare", and, oddly, "Computers".

On the frontispiece of the Animals in Atomic Research booklet is a photo of a group of what look like very happy beagles, frolicking together at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL).  Each one is running gayly around, tripping over its two- or three-foot metal chain leash.  The caption tells us we are seeing them "explore their new quarters in the Health Research Laboratory building.  The laboratory was awarded a citation for excellence in animal quarters and stress-free humane handling of its animals."  It doesn't say who gave the award, or when.  Everything is cement, except the row of cage doors on the right; evidently those cages would be the dogs' real homes for the rest of their lives, except when they were taken out to be irradiated and/or examined, and perhaps one last time to kill them when their "service to science" had ended.

Often, the experiments could have been stopped much earlier, but were allowed to go to their morbid completion for no good reason.  Just to watch exactly how long it took the animals to die.  Over and over and over.  Turn up the dose. Turn down the dose.  Make it last longer.  Make it shorter.  Irradiate the left side.  The right side.  The insides.  The outsides.  New dogs.  More new dogs.  More new dogs.

At the end of the booklet, in Appendix One (page 51), the total of all animals used is listed, which is over six million, four hundred thousand (not including fruit flies).  The alphabetical breakdown includes:

Dogs (beagles): 2,091
Dogs (misc.) 494

It also includes:

Alligator: 1
Cats: 239
Cattle: 541
Chickens: 5,809
Chicks: 6,400
Chinchillas: 38
Chipmunks: 34

... and on through nearly 50 different species, including Equine (40), Mice (783,615), Opossum (1), Primates (369; WE are primates), Rabbits (8,437), through to:

Snails: 50
Squirrels: 298
Swine: 7,047
Swine, miniature: 1,053
Toads: 579
Trout: 1,201,550
Turtles: 50

Of Drosophila, it says, "Many millions; too numerous to count".

But see  -- these guys have White Lab Coats.  Not White Robes.

And I guess that makes all the difference.

Sincerely,

Russell D. Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA

Note: The cover of the ANIMALS IN ATOMIC RESEARCH booklet shows a 2-ounce, 4-week old marmoset monkey sitting in the palm of the hand of a researcher.  A colony of the cute little critters (only 13 ounces when fully grown) was maintained at Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies in Tennessee (may still be, for all I know).  Marmosets are apparently prized for this research because they: "usually give birth to fraternal twins, and there is a prenatal connection between the twins that leads to an interchange of blood-forming tissue. As a result a female with a brother twin possesses male cells in addition to her own genetically derived ones, and vice versa.  Another useful feature is their sensitivity to radiation. The exposure necessary to cause progressive patterns of radiation effects is considerably less than the dose to be expected from measurements on other mammals."  Poor little marmosets.  No "after" photos of any irradiated animals are included anywhere in the booklet.

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"It may not happen in my lifetime, but I am convinced that one day there will be trials of this entire Nuclear Mafia similar to the Nuremberg Trials, and it will include every animal-torturing pseudo-scientist, every nuclear weaponeer and warhead designer, not to mention the IAEA and the Death-of-the-Earth squad."

-- Pamela Blockey-O'Brien, in comments to the Department of Transportation, July, 2002:
http://dms3000.dot.gov/docimages/pdf1a/181877_web.pdf

(RSPA-1999-6283-117 Comment(s) 07/30/2002)

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