A medal and cash prize will be awarded to the individual who has done most to end animal vivisection in laboratories. It was inaugurated at the First Indian Congress on Alternatives in Chennai in January 2007.
Philip Wollen's address:
"The most beautiful single word ever written in any language in human history came from the Upanishads, three thousand years ago in India. . . . . Ahimsa. . . . . Non violence to any living being.
If we have learned anything it is this. . . . . . . in their capacity to suffer, a dog is a pig is a bear . . . . . . . is a boy.
Mahatma Gandhi taught us that a nation is judged by the way she treats her animals. The same is true of our professions, and our character.
As scientists we are called upon to use all our faculties. . . . intellectual, moral and spiritual. Most of all, we are called upon to test our consciences in the presence of souls who are utterly powerless.
It is our moral obligation to explore every possible alternative before we even consider inflicting suffering on another sentient being, each of whom is a child of another, and loved as we love our own.
Humans and animals are inexorably tied together. They need us to free them from their fear. We need them to free us from our guilt.
As leaders in our chosen profession, we can set the benchmark for others to follow. And we must.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Let us commit ourselves today, in the name of all that is good; all that is honourable; and all that is kind, to do everything in our power to remove animals from our laboratories once and for all.
After millions of years of evolution, animals have earned the right to live on the earth in peace, and in our hearts.
It is not in my nature to plead for anything. But I plead with you.
You represent the cream of academic brilliance. It is not beyond your intellectual powers to develope new and better ways of testing without resorting to animals.
Please."
"The most beautiful single word ever written in any language in human history came from the Upanishads, three thousand years ago in India. . . . . Ahimsa. . . . . Non violence to any living being.
If we have learned anything it is this. . . . . . . in their capacity to suffer, a dog is a pig is a bear . . . . . . . is a boy.
Mahatma Gandhi taught us that a nation is judged by the way she treats her animals. The same is true of our professions, and our character.
As scientists we are called upon to use all our faculties. . . . intellectual, moral and spiritual. Most of all, we are called upon to test our consciences in the presence of souls who are utterly powerless.
It is our moral obligation to explore every possible alternative before we even consider inflicting suffering on another sentient being, each of whom is a child of another, and loved as we love our own.
Humans and animals are inexorably tied together. They need us to free them from their fear. We need them to free us from our guilt.
As leaders in our chosen profession, we can set the benchmark for others to follow. And we must.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Let us commit ourselves today, in the name of all that is good; all that is honourable; and all that is kind, to do everything in our power to remove animals from our laboratories once and for all.
After millions of years of evolution, animals have earned the right to live on the earth in peace, and in our hearts.
It is not in my nature to plead for anything. But I plead with you.
You represent the cream of academic brilliance. It is not beyond your intellectual powers to develope new and better ways of testing without resorting to animals.
Please."
First Indian Congress on Alternatives in Chennai in January 2007.
Workshop to end animal vivisection in laboratories
Exploring every possible alternative
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