h/t: Sykes. He talked about it on his show this morning (9:20ish), but I only caught the tail end.
PETA has taken offense to actions in Marquette’s Biology 171 course. As it goes, a renegade nameless student alerted PETA to the mass genocide of helpless turtles, rats and rabbits inside these hallowed walls of higher education. According to the complaint, students of the 171 course (either get to or watch, I can’t tell) a turtle be anesthetized and then killed with a hammer and the brain be pithed. They saw open the shell and watch the heart beat. I guess a student claimed to witness a turtle try to make a dramatic escape after being hit in the head, coughing up blood. PETA is not amused.
PETA wasn’t happy, saying:
“As a Catholic university, Marquette should follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi and teach students compassion for all beings, instead of forcing students to maim and kill animals,” PETA Director of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo said in a statement.
The PETA complaint says the student whistleblower witnessed one turtle, after receiving a hammer blow to the head, cough up blood and try to walk away. But Marquette spokeswoman Brigid Miller said the university found no evidence of that.
Aside from the turtle experiment, the PETA complaint also condemns Blumenthal’s course for other animal-related exercises. As part of the class, students apply electricity to the muscles of pithed frogs – frogs whose spinal cords have been severed in order to dissect them.
They apply different drugs to sections of rabbits’ aortas and record muscle contraction and relaxation. They place rats in drying chambers to measure the rats’ metabolic rates and, in some cases, mark the rats with an ear punch.
University spokeswoman Brigid Miller said these exercises do take place in Blumenthal’s course, but that all animals are anesthetized.
Next time the Professor should hit the turtle harder. In reality, I think this course is good. If students are planning to further their medical knowledge, we can’t do these sorts of tests on people, so animals are the next best thing. I’ll need some proof before I’ll begin to consider the idea that “non-animal methods” are better, or even equal. Also I’ll need some proof before I’ll believe that the ‘unnamed student whistleblower’ isn’t full of crap. I am 90% certain that the student made this up. Seriously, I can’t believe this student has made it to Bio 171 at MU and they haven’t seen an animal die or dissected an animal. How can someone with such a love of animals that they feel like they need to alerta PETA to an ‘injustice’ make it all the way to an upper division BIO Course without getting offended until now?
Marquette released a statement saying:
Marquette graduate school dean, William Wiener, said Monday that all state and federal laws and regulations regarding use of animals in the class were followed. He says an investigation of PETA’s complaint, which was filed in November, concluded no university guidelines or protocols were violated, including that all animals were anesthetized before experiments were done.
Here you can check out PETA’s complaint that can be emailed to Fr. Wild. I only include this because PETA allows you to edit the letter however you feel. Write one supporting Marquette and the class. Feel free to include a part about how the turtle was also delicious if you like. I really hope Marquette doesn’t cave to a bunch of lunatics here. That is something I’d be upset over. They should fight the PC police and leftwing wackos here until they are all forced to give up. I say that MU should continue to allow Blumenthal to teach the course in its entirety, animal tests and all. In fact, MU should strive to offer more courses like this if applicable. Also, bounce the student for causing MU such a headache.
Deep down I’m seriously offended by PETA. MUCRs holds an Animal Rights BBQ and PETA isn’t offended. We even promoted a “You Kill it, We Grill It” part and we got nothing, but PETA gets enraged over a turtle!
And if MUSG writes any legislation or if there is any Trib option written condemning the course, so help me…
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Eek. I dunno. I’m no big fan of PETA (I’m all for humane treatment of animals but PETA can get pretty extreme) and am the furthest thing from a vegetarian (I eat foie gras and will eat veal on occasion) but killing a turtle with a hammer to the head so they can watch the heart beat seems a little barbaric. I’m not really seeing the educational benefit.
I’m with Evan, I have my qualms with PETA but the killing of little wetland animals does seem cruel. Aren’t we just about at a point where we can create digital images of organs functioning rather than rip open frogs and turtles to see it?
I know PETA is very far from being a Catholic organization but they are right, St. Francis really wouldn’t have liked this sort of thing.
This is outrages, the animals have feelings too, to torture them for students amusement is criminal, what type of humans are they, that they can be part of this.
This is an Ethics matter, you do not inflict pain to others, this includes animals.