by Prof. Pietro Croce

Nothing is more difficult than to highlight something obvious to one who has been conditioned to think with somebody else's head: the head of a "Professor". Obeying the teaching of a school, or university, where the student goes purposely to be conditioned.

First stage: the aforesaid "difficulty" which can be summarised as "vivisection is a methodological error", has already been overcome by the scientific anti-vivisection movement, and is piercing its way not only among lay people, but also among doctors, ie those who have been deeply conditioned. Many of them have organised leagues to assert their reconquered freedom of thought, and perhaps also as a revenge against persons and institutions responsible for the suffered violence: that of having been conditioned.

• In Italy, as well as abroad, associations have been created having in their name an unequivocal title, "DOCTOR", "PHYSICIAN".
• In Germany, "Vereinigung Artze gegen Tierversuch" (Union of doctors against animal experimentation);
• In the United Kingdom, DLRM (Doctors and Lawyers for Responsible Medicine).
• In USA, PCRM ("Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine").

Second stage: the anti-vivisection movement is gaining credit in the Universities, so far considered as forges of conditioning: eg the University of Graz (Austria) now is officially known as "Tierversuchsfrie Universitat Graz" (University of Graz, free of animal experimentation). It is foreseeable, as well as desirable, that others will follow.

A third stage has been covered by qualified persons and associations which, being concerned about the future, are educating children and youngsters on anti-vivisectionism and respect for animals:

• In Italy, the periodical of the LAV Improte (Footprints) has its appendix "Piccole impronte" ("Little footprints") for children.
• In Austria, Mrs Charlotte Probst has organised a committee of teachers for educational programmes in schools.
• In the United Kingdom, Dr Tony Page, has added the book The Use of Animals in Medical Research: The Wrong Path (enriched with witty sketches by Carole Zdesar) to the precious contribution given by his Vivisection Unveiled.
• In the USA, in November 1997, students of the NYU (New York University) organised a sit-in protesting against the experiments on chimpanzees carried out by that University (P.A.C.E. News, No. 1).

A fourth stage has loomed out in support of our campaign against science fetishism, and is harvesting unforeseen fruits among a public which more and more is turning its back on official medicine, while resorting instead to methods which for a long time had been considered lacking in sufficiency by the official "benefactors of humanity".

As you see, our way has been long and difficult; but only an insane optimist could have expected the opposite.

The stages we have run across are decisive, and that makes us hope the last stage will not be a long way off. What is the last stage? So far we had always asserted that vivisecting animals inevitably leads to experiments on humans. Now, though harping on the same string, we also state that the last and final stage will be accomplished when all, doctors and lay people, will accept a concept which so far exists only in select hearts:
VIVISECTION IS PERVERSE INDEPENDENTLY FROM THE HARM IT CAUSES TO HUMANS.