Editor:

On April 14, Ryan Wixom wrote a thoughtless letter to the editor (“Where Do You Draw the Lines of Life”) on the subject of animal experimentation that misrepresented the purpose behind SOAR’s encampment on the free speech area next to the Union.

If Wixom possessed a bit less knee-jerk bias, he might get over his condescension long enough to see that animal experimentation involves very complicated humanitarian, ethical and even scientific issues.

He might consider coming by the tent and speaking to us, or, better yet, reading our literature and signing our petition. The petition objects to the vivisection of dogs in research labs at the U and points out that many medical schools around the country, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, no longer vivisect animals.

Perhaps Wixom is unaware of the fact that more than just dreadlock-wearing hippies are concerned about this issue. Utah is one of five states that actually require pounds to turn abandoned pets that may have once lived in a loving home over to research labs. Fifteen states have made pound seizures illegal.

These experiments occur out of view of the public and behind locked doors. I don’t think you need a great deal of compassion for worms to support the concept of not exposing beagle puppies to radiation or inducing their hearts to fail.

Melanie Thomas

Student Organization for Animal Rights