From: itsmine@med.unc.edu (Greg Popken)
Subject: RE:Books review- "Free the Animals" By Ingrid Newkirk
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 16:35:20 GMT

In article Alka Chandna  writes:
  >I'm not a writer, but I very much enjoyed this book by Newkirk & thought
I'd
>take a shot at writing a review.  I'd appreciate any feedback!  The book, if
>you're interested, was published by Noble Press in Chicago, Ill.
> 
>****
>	Ingrid Newkirk's latest books has all the components of a high-paced 
>suspense: bone-chilling intrigue, convoluted conspiracy plots, scrapes with the
>law, high-priced lawyers, and just the right dose of hot'n'horny romance.  Here's the twist: the characters in Newkirk's book are real, the events that she 
>chronicles actually happened, and the philosophy that underlies the plot will
>shake up the very way in which you think.  Who could resist?

>	Stories of these masked women and men who break into laboratories and 
>free animals are fascinating enough.  What makes Newkirk's work especially
>compelling is the courage, conviction and compassion with which she writes.
>Where the author lacks in prose (Tolstoy, she ain't), she makes up for in 
>story-telling narrative.  Brilliantly, Newkirk has woven together three distinctlevels of narrative into one plot.

I can not believe this.  Spare us you glorification of the "dedicated"
activist.  They are terrorist!  Nothing more than common criminals.  I
view your glowing accounts of this activity as irresponsible and an
unethical.
In her great "story-telling narratives" did Ingrid mention the attempted
murders carried out by this organization.  Or the 13 month old boy that
was crippled in one of these attacks.  Did she mention the millions of
dollars in damages to person property.  The threats on the lives of
researchers and their FAMILIES.  The uncounted suffering of people that
couldn't get the medical attention they needed because medical research
was halted.
Did she mention the lives of the animals, that she so desperately wants to
help, that were endangered or even lossed because they were "liberated". 
Or the chance that some overzealous terrorist will break into and release
animals carrying fatal pathenogens.

By publishing this book and by not speaking out against these terrorist
activities Ingrid (PETA) confuses me.  Claiming to be striving for a more
peaceful world?  YEAH! 

 > First, there is the basic storyline. 
"Valerie", an officer with a
>Maryland police force, learns through her work, of a case of animal abuse at
>a Silver Springs lab.  Researcher Edward Taub, working at the Institute for
>Behavioural Research, had used monkeys in experiments of surgical crippling.
>From the notes of a lab assistant, "Twelve of (the monkeys) had surgically
>crippled limbs (which) had been done when they were juveniles.  Since then,
>they had torn or bitten off a total of thirty-nine fingers on these limbs.
>Their physical and mental torture had left many of them neurotic.  (In one)
>experiment, a monkey was strapped into a homemade immobilizing chair.  He would
>be held fast at his neck, wrists, waist, and ankles.  Acute noxious stimuli -
>pain - (was to be applied) to various parts of his body.  The pain was applied
>with a pair of surgical pliers clamped onto the monkey and locked to the 
>tightest notch.  The stimulus previously used was the open flame of a cigarette
>lighter."

I'm curious about the source of this information and the details of the
project.  What part of the body were these noxious stimuli applied to? 
The arm that no longer carried sensory information?
You mention physical and mental torture.  The one charge that Taub was
convicted of (later overturned) revolved around the proper bandaging of
an open wound on one of the 12 monkeys.  All other charges involving
treatment of the animals were dismissed in this lower court.  Do you
have some new evidence?
Note.  Taub originally had 119 charges against him.  The lower court only
found him guilty on one.

 >	As
the details of the (historic and precedent-setting) case unfold, 
>Valerie becomes confident that Taub will be convicted on all 17 counts of
>cruelty and neglect.  What she doesn't anticipate is the overturning of the
>guilty verdict by a higher court, based on the federal source of Taub's 
>grants (since he received federal monies, he was not bound to observe state
>anti-cruelty laws).  This is Valerie's turning point, the moment of her
>metamorphosis.
[...]
>	To keep readers from dismissing Valerie's efforts as being "irrelevant",Newkirk has weaved a crash course in the philosophy of animal rights into the
>storyline.  In an incredibly believable manner, Newkirk slips in quotations 
>by everyone from Mahatma Gandhi ("The greatness of a nation and its moral 
>progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals") to Jeremy Bentham
>("The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they speak? But, can they
>suffer?") to Leonardo daVinci ("The day will come when we will look upon the
>murder of beasts as we now look upon the murder of men") to Martin Luther 
>King ("An unjust law is no law at all").  Peter Singer's utilitarian argument
>finds its way into the pages of the novel, as does Tom Regan's rights and
>responsibilities spiel.

Did she mention Hitler?  The Nazis introduced some sweeping
antivivisection laws in the 30's.

>	For readers who agree with Newkirk's ideas and Valerie's approach,
>the author has further included as an integral part of the story text, what
>is essentially a "how to" manual: everything you always wanted to know about
>monkey-wrenching (but didn't know who to ask).

Oh great!  I'm a terrorist, he's a terrorist, wouldn't you like to be a
terrorist too!

Whichever side of the fence one is on in this issue is a choice that each
of us is entitled to.  I respect that.  If you disagree with the status quo
change you habits, form a group, raise, money, educated people, write your
congressperson.  I not only suggest it, but I respect it.
Threaten peoples lives, burn and steal private property, disrupt life
saving medical progress, engage in terrorist activity?  

Don't expect me to condone, glorify, or respect it.

>Thanks for reading this, and please do offer any feedback!

You asked


Greg Popken


P.S.  BTW, for those that didn't hear already,  PETA is under
investigation by the feds for possible 
involvements with ALF.

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