The swine flu scare has people, rightly, talking about the ills of factory farming, and I will be covering media on that issue tomorrow. The crisis has some of us also thinking about xenotransplantation. Rather than doing everything we can to encourage people to become organ donors, scientists have been experimenting with the transfer of pig organs into immune suppressed patients, inviting, according to many leading disease specialists, a disaster exponentially greater in circulation and mortality than the current swine flu. I cover that issue in the chapter on animal testing, "Animals Anonymous," in Thanking the Monkey. And you'll find information about it on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) website at http://www.pcrm.org/magazine/GM97Spring/GM97Spring4.html
I refer to PCRM in honor of a wonderful woman, Simon Chaitowitz, who our movement lost to cancer on April 19. She worked for the last decade heading up PCRM's media department. Last week, her friend and colleague Mindy Kursban and I agreed that nobody ever had a bad word to say about Simon. Yet that was hardly because she was mild mannered or retiring in nature. She was no wimp or sideline sitter. In her fight for the animals -- those in circuses during her Seattle activism days and then those suffering in labs when she worked for PCRM -- she was a feisty and tireless advocate.
To give you a glimpse into Simon's character I am going to share two pieces she penned. The first, published on the Huffington Post site just weeks before died is titled, "Why I Take Animal Tested Drugs." Her answer was that because of government regulations she had no choice, unless she wished to forego all medication. Like so many people with terminal stage cancer she would have far preferred to have been the "guinea pig" herself, and to have seen the research effort and dollars going towards more compassionate, useful and reliable research. You'll find the piece on the Huffington Post website at http://tinyurl.com/afwtdv . I hope you will read it and forward it to your friends so that many more people will read it, and that you'll leave a comment in Simon's honor.
I also want to share a piece she wrote for the "Dare to be Fabulous" site, headed, "Playing the Cancer Card." She discusses the "fringe benefits" of having cancer. If you read it you will know why those of us who knew Simon miss her so much: http://tinyurl.com/cqvg4e . What a fun and fabulous woman! Yet also so seriously committed to changing the world.
We will get together and celebrate Simon's life this Saturday, in Arlington VA, from 4-7pm. If you knew and loved Simon and would like to be there, please email me for details.
I was blessed to be able to spend a little time with Simon just days before she left us. I asked her if there was anything she would like me to post or say for her. She said, "Just tell everybody I love them." I send that message to all who knew or worked with Simon. And I know that her love went to all who work to make the world a kinder place.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. To discontinue DawnWatch alerts go to http://www.DawnWatch.com/nothanks.php
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Date: Thu Apr 30 00:50:36 2009
