I've been a vegetarian (an ovo-lacto vegetarian, to be exact) since I was 13 years old. I don't wear cosmetics. I won't buy or wear fur. I refuse to wear or use leather if at all possible. And I absolutely love animals. I live with fish, a mouse, a pony, a horse and cats, and I'm looking for the perfect dog to complement my other companion animals. Oh, yes. I also love rats. I've had rats for pets. The last was a big black-and-white-hooded rat. I even nursed an abandoned baby mouse, whose eyes had not yet opened, until she reached adulthood. So why am I working in a biomedical research lab that uses animals in its experiments? No, I am not an infiltrator from the so-called "animal rights" movement. I love what I do, and I get angry when I hear the terrible things animal-rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals say about me and my colleagues and how we supposedly treat laboratory animals. If you buy into the stories of some animal-rightists, I am the last person you would expect to find working at an animal research lab. Well, not only are these groups wrong about me and my profession; they are also grossly mistaken about my colleagues, our work and the conditions under which we keep our animals.
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