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SPEAK - Dr Jerry Vlasak replies to media libel

Speak Campaigns | 25.07.2004 18:30 | Bio-technology | Oxford

Todays press has been full of lies about how animal rights supporter and trauma surgeon Dr Jerry Vlasak wished violence on vivisectors as part of a serious of crude dirty tricks against successful animal rights campaigns. Here is Dr Vlasak's response

SPEAK CAMPAIGN PRESS RELEASE: 25th July 2004

DIRTY TRICKS CAMPAIGN SWINGS INTO ACTION - Dr Vlasak Replies


Over the past week we have seen an attempt by the Pharmaceutical companies and Government - ably assisted by their friends in the media - to discredit the animal rights movement and campaigning groups at the forefront of challenging the vivisection industry in the UK.

Organisations mounting legal challenges against the effectiveness of vivisection have been labelled as extremist, terrorist and fundamentalist. The purpose of this is to divert attention from the real perpetrators of violence who thus become the implied victims, therein masking the true face of those inflicting terror and concealing what goes on behind laboratory walls.

Today saw yet another attempt to divert public attention away from the truth with a story by a journalist in the Observer newspaper, who made libellous allegations against Dr Jerry Vlasak, one of SPEAK's scientific advisers. Dr Vlasaks reply to those falsehoods is printed in full below. Both the SPEAK campaign and Dr Vlasak will be taking legal advice to address the remarks incorrectly attributed to Dr Vlasak in the article.

"I was outraged by Jamie Doward's article in the Observer stating that I, a medical doctor who spends my entire life SAVING lives, is calling for or encouraging the assassination or killing of any being, human or non human. Mr Doward has libelled me and I am going to meet with an attorney to discuss my options. This just proves that in order for the government and the biomedical industry to continue making billions of dollars off the tax payers, they will go to any lengths (even smearing a doctor) in order to continue their needless and scientifically fraudulent experiments causing the horrific suffering, abuse, neglect, exploitation and death to millions of primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and other animals.

What I did talk to Mr Doward about was the fact that animal experimentation is NOT scientifically valid and the reasons why. I also spoke to him about the fact that you cannot put the animal rights movement in a vacuum. You must put it in a historical context. We are fighting for the right of non human sentient beings to not be exploited, taken against their will, imprisoned and then tortured beyond anyone's comprehension for profit and bad science.

In looking at other historical movements to end the obscenity and egregious violence and death to innocent lives, including the fight against apartheid in South Africa, the fight to free black slaves here in the US and the fight for the rights of indigenous cultures, violence has been used and there have been casualties. People have been killed over absolutely ridiculous things like oil, power and money. It would be "speciesist" of me to say that in a battle for the moral and ethical highground, in the fight on behalf of the most oppressed, abused and tortured beings the world has even known, that there will never be casualties. I'm not encouraging or calling for this, I am simply stating that the animal rights movement is and has been the most peaceful and restrained movement the world has ever known considering the amount of terror, abuse and murder done to innocent animals for greed and profit. If by chance violence is used by those who fight for non human sentient beings, or even if there are casualties, it must be looked at in perspective and in a historical context.

I am a scientist, I shamefully have done vivisection. I realised after I published countless papers and documents on the results of my obscene research, that it was all a lie. It was a terrible waste of money, time and most of all it did nothing, and I will say it again, NOTHING to help my patients and cure disease. There are hundreds of alternatives and research practices that would save lives, save money and cure disease that are NOT being used because of the biomedical industry's obsession with using animal models to come up with human cures. Today, we need to look at genes and gene expression to cure disease; a male rat will offer different outcomes then a female rat in experiments because of their gene expression. Therefore you cannot extrapolate the outcome you get from a rat, dog or monkey and use this for humans. Animal experimentation has caused thousands of needless human deaths every single year, and millions of animal deaths whose agony, despair and torture is not seen by an uneducated public. But I have seen their agony, I have seen it with my own eyes and it is not only scientifically invalid, but the most obscene and evil thing we can do to another sentient being.

In closing, I will be contacting a lawyer in the UK to possibly sue the Observer and Mr Doward as well as to complain to the PCC and draft a letter to the Home Secretary.

I have a great deal to offer the citizens of the UK by educating them as to what the medical industry ought to be doing to save the lives of patients and cure their diseases. I speak on behalf of all sentient beings and am proud to be a voice on behalf of the animals whose miserable and incomprehensible agony goes unseen by the public and is directly preventing my patients from getting the proper care and treatment they deserve."

Speak Campaigns
- e-mail: info@speakcampaigns.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.speakcampaigns.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

"GO JERRY, GO JERRY"

25.07.2004 20:56

<<Punches the air and whoops in support!!

Kristine
mail e-mail: downhamkris@hotmail.com


drug money

26.07.2004 18:02

I have followed the recent spate of articles in the guardian and elsewhere concerning the validity of the anti oxford lab protest. I notice certain tactics to imply that all serious debate around the issue is reduced to the lowest common denominator e.g. all protest is violence , and violence against the state and the institutions it upholds is therefore criminal. Todays contribution by the minister for homeland security ratifies this concern. My question is this : if the science is in fact bad , as Mr. Vlasak suggests , then what is the real motivation of those who perpetuate such practices . That such research enables huge profits for the perpetrators merely compounds the suspicion that they are somewhat in a state of denial about the status of their victims.

bob


demo was peaceful

26.07.2004 21:03

Sat 24th July was peaceful. We was there for the animals and the
injustice of vivisection.
What has been going on in the press amazes me.There are so many lies
and cover ups.
Jerry Vlasak is a good human being and why his good name has to be
slurred all over the papers is beyond me.
The only reason why all this publicity is happening is because we
are making a point. Vivisection is fraud.
So many animals die in senseless experiments.
If the Oxford Labs are allowed to go ahead we will be known as the torture
chamber of Europe.
It has been proved that animal experiments do not work but still the
government let them happen.
It is sickeneing to think that while we were on that demo, the experiments
in the university was still happening and while we were banging our drums and
chanting into our megaphones there some poor animal screaming out for help.
Thats why we were there and It keeps me awake at night.
Liberation to all

libby


SPEAK and SPEAK: two different organisations

27.07.2004 21:46

On behalf of SPEAK, the Christian Student Justice organisation, I wish to remind readers that the SPEAK written about here is nothing to do with them. This group was formerly called SPEAC (C standing for Cambridge I believe). SPEAK doesn't oppose what the new SPEAK does, but wishes to remain separate in the minds of the public. SPEAK has very different campaigns against global injustices to humans, they haven't suddenly packed that in and changed tracks.
Graham

Rebel W


speaking about confusion

30.07.2004 17:03

Aye - sorry if confusion has arisen.

Speak the animal rights campaign, normally refers to itself as 'speak campaigns' which should reduce misunderstandings

speak campaigns
mail e-mail: info@speakcampaigns.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.speakcampaigns.org.uk


The meaning of Life

31.07.2004 07:37

All life is sacred. Human beings have no right to exploit animals for any
reason whatsoever. I truly believe that future generations will look back
on us with shame and disgust. Congratulations to Dr. Vlasak and all people
like him for their courage to speak out.
Further, I am certain much more could be achieved if all animal liberationists
and various animal rights groups would work together. With better organisation and
direction who knows what we could achieve?
Love, Sonja de Winter, Australia.

Sonja de Winter
mail e-mail: sonjaost@optusnet.com.au


Profit how ?

08.08.2004 00:53

Bob touches on a point which I have been trying to get answered for some time, but with no success at all.

In a nutshell, if (as campaigners always insist) animal research didn’t work, it would surely be a needless expense which pharmaceutical companies would be keen to get rid of. How then does this pointless burden increase their profits, as we are always told it does ?

Placator


support jerry vlasak and his wife

27.08.2004 20:28

It is such a shame that jerry and his wife have been banned from
entering the country on the gathering weekend.He is a remarkable
person and is a trauma surgeon who saves lives.What is wrong with
David Blunkett! Control freak enters my mind.
Jerry was here in April and gave an inspirational talk on vivisection.
lets all write to our local mp's and complain.
Jerry and his wife will be missed at the gathering.

libby


Cost of vivisection - why they are willing to pay for it.

24.02.2007 01:34

Using vivisection methods allows the drug companies to claim that they have tested their drugs much more thoroughly - higher doses - than could possibly be the case with humans. When the drugs kill people the drug companies can say that they did their best to ensure the safety of the drugs. Yes, the use of animals costs them money but not as much as the higher compensation claims that would ensue if there was no animal safety data to point to.

Futhermore, vivisection is cheap. Compared to the proper scientific research which will replace it. Proper research will entail detailed, time consuming work to test every possible outcome in humans. It will take longer to reach the point where full clinical trials can take place. At present they abuse some rats and monkeys, fill them with the drug, and then declare that the drug is safe. Proper scientific research will actually have to be scientific. Much more costly.

Vivisectionists are used to the easy option of using animals. Once they have data to show that the drug seems to be safe they can then begin the real safety testing - which is done in humans.

Simon


Does the good terrorist know where his family is?

06.07.2007 03:17

An eye for an eye. Does the good terrorist doctor know - exactly, and to the minute - where his family is/are? Perhaps if they suffered the woes he calls on for others, his attitudes might change. I, for one, would financially support such action.

K Quinn


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