I think you mistake me. I don't suggest that we should be any less humane or more cruel to mice. I openly admit, there is cruelty in these experiments, and as much as we try to limit the suffering of the mice, I can only guess as to what the extent is. My guess is that it is not as bad as glue trap, or mouse bait, but I do not enjoy it at all. In fact, I'd love to find a cure for cancer, so that these experiments would no longer be of value.

The situation, however, is that this work is extremely useful in terms of developing treatments to prevent human suffering.

I didn't write this essay to argue that too much care is given to mice, but to highlight what I see to be a drastic asymmetry between our methods of pest control and our methods of developing treatments for brain tumor, as it concerns the treatment of mice. My argument is that in research, we are more conscientious, and yet face much higher hurdles. I personally believe that our standards of care should not be relaxed, but simply that the paperwork involved should be limited so that we can more quickly find a successful cure. I believe this would ultimately prevent the deaths of people. Ultimately, the purpose of my work is to prevent the suffering of people.

I admit that the tone of the essay is unemotional, and the picture is shocking. However, I wanted to shine light upon the facts, which are not pleasant. For example, in research articles, it is often reported that we 'sacrifice' or 'euthenize' the mice. I'm not very comfortable with that terminology.' Sacrifice' has strong religious connotations and infers a higher purpose. I think the purpose should be debated, not settled in the language. 'Euthanize' refers to put an end to suffering; this seems an odd word choice to me when the author is the cause of the suffering. We kill the mice. We should face that we do this, and know why we do. In my opinion, only if we clearly face this fact, will we feel fully compelled to treat the mice with as much respect and care as we can, and to derive as much value as possible from the work.

I'm sorry if you found my attitude to be dismissive. My colleagues laugh at me because I thank every mouse before I kill it. I do it with sincerity.

BTW, welcome to Hubski.