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ing them getting healthy and starting to trust humans again. “The animals I look after now are used in experiments to find out if new drugs are safe for humans to use. My friends say I’m crazy to get involved in something like that. They think I’m dosing animals up to the eyeballs with poisons to find out what happens to them, but I’m not. All the experiments are careful- ly controlled, and we do not use animals unless we absolutely have to. There are laws that say lifesaving drugs cannot be given to humans until they’ve been tested on animals to make sure they are safe.” Jeff notes that public misunderstandings about how the center where he works treats animals sometimes results in vio- lence. The managing director of the center was once beaten up outside his home by animal-rights activists trying to get the facility closed down. There have been other incidents as well. “Somebody I work with had their car fire-bombed by the ani- mal-rights people. They were sent letters with razor blades taped into them so that they’d cut their fingers when they opened them. Some of the razor blades even had rat poison on them. “All we’re trying to do is help people. My sister has cystic

exploit— to make use of cruelly or unfairly for one’s own advantage. speciesism— prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially discrimina- tion from humans against animals. Words to Understand in This Chapter

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Animal Rights