EEEEEk!
By Maria Weber, Buena Vista, CO
One group of mice underwent bile duct litigation (BDL), where the bile duct was obstructed to cause an accumulation of bile in order to trigger liver fibrosis. The other group was given carbon tetrachloride, a potent toxin which damaged the liver. Both groups were fed capsaicin (the component in chili peppers that makes them taste hot). From Health Radar, a monthly health newsletter.
The wild bison was slaughtered almost to extinction.
African lions are hunted for sport.
The boreal toad, once profligate, has almost vanished.
Whales and dolphins are chased down for human consumption
or lethally harmed by our military’s underwater
warfare tests.
Starving polar bears cling to melting icebergs.
The list of the endangered grows daily.
Which leaves us with an animal that
thrives in spite of human meddling:
The mouse.
Underappreciated, but sharing 90 percent of our
DNA, mice are the heroes of medical testing.
We don’t care so much.
After all,
we set traps to kill them. They carry disease,
chew wires in our vehicles, make nests in our
sheds, attract unwelcome predators.
On the bottom of the food chain, they feed
the owls, hawks and eagles as well as
wolf, bobcat and coyote … sometimes our favorite
house cats.
For science, they are genetically engineered,
injected with our diseases, limbs amputated and
reattached and a host of other horrors.
Each mouse that I have known has
shimmered with personality
and a capacity for love, joy and play
as clear and present as my cat’s.
I can only hope these unsung stars
will someday receive their wings
and halos in a more compassionate dimension.
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