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From the Desk of Michael Budkie, SAEN’s Executive Director The first half of 2004 has already been exciting and hectic, as we
have fought for imprisoned animals across the United States. Our work
has already generated more than a dozen different pieces of media
coverage on the animal experimentation issue in four states. We have
exposed abuses within Harvard, University of Wisconsin, Yale, two
branches of the University of Connecticut, Mt. Ida College, University
of Pittsburgh, Northwestern, and many other labs. Our investigations
have unveiled the worst labs in the nation, bringing local and national
coverage in prestigious publications such as The Medical Research Law &
Policy Report. Everything we do is made possible by your contributions.
You can be proud of all SAEN’s achievements; you have made them a
reality. This issue of The Defender will bring you up-to-date on all of our
recent work for the animals. Updates are included on: the continuation
of our campaign against the University of Wisconsin & Harvard, World
Laboratory Animal Liberation Week, and our efforts in opposition to the
annual conference of the American Society of Primatologists. You will
also get the details from our wonderful visit to the headquarters of the
International Primate Protection League including their gibbon
sanctuary. World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week (WLALW) 2004 was an extremely
effective event, with twenty-one media events taking place in eighteen
states across the United States. WLALW also saw the release of another
hard-hitting SAEN report: Breaking the Law, Animal Care in U.S. Labs,
which exposed major violations of the law within 25 labs across the
country. As I write this letter to you, we are launching in-depth
investigations of laboratories in Texas, California, Pennsylvania,
Michigan, Arizona, and Minnesota. We are also continuing our
investigations of the University of Wisconsin. We will leave no stone
unturned in our campaign to expose primate experimentation. We will be
traveling across the U.S. to work with activists as our campaign
broadens. Right now, we are uncertain how far we can go with these vital
investigations. What if we must hire an attorney to compel a lab to turn
over documents? Will we be able to afford the state imposed document
costs? Only you can answer these questions. In 3½ years we have been able to make the horrors of animal
experimentation into major news stories 52 separate times. And we do
this on an annual budget which is less than other groups spend on the
salary of one person. Can we continue this high level of effectiveness?
It is up to you. We do not waste your contributions. Your gifts are spent on things
like investigative costs, materials for news conferences and protests,
and the meager wages that we pay to our devoted staff. There are no
fancy dinners in high-priced restaurants, there are no expense accounts.
We have dedicated staff who spend all of their waking hours fighting
animal experimentation. We routinely travel the nation fighting for animals. I have
personally been in Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh,
and Madison (WI) so far this year. In coming weeks I will travel to
Washington D.C., Sacramento, and San Francisco (CA). We go where ever
animal abuse takes place to speak for the voiceless. When local activists need the facts about animal experimentation,
they turn to SAEN. We have already provided valuable information to
groups in Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, and many other cities. We do
everything in our power to abolish animal experimentation. Will we be able to continue our work? That is entirely your
decision. There is no one else. When I receive the next call for help, what will I have to say? Will
I be able to keep SAEN fighting for animals? Will we be able to keep
pressure on the labs like Harvard, University of Wisconsin (UW), the
many branches of the University of California that are abusing primates,
dogs, cats and other animals? All of these things are entirely up to
you. Please send as large a tax-deductible donation as you can afford to
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! With your gift of $25, $50, or $100 we can
keep the pressure on Harvard or UW. A special gift of $250, $500, or
$1000 will allow us to investigate and expose the University of
California branches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Davis. Without your gift, SAEN cannot continue. It is really that simple.
Our work is entirely dependent on your donation. YOU are a vital part of
SAEN. Can the animals count on you?
Return to
Vol. 3, No. 1 -
Spring/Summer 2004 |
