Animal lab workers are often told their distress is βjust compassion fatigue.β But for many, the experience runs deeper.
When your work repeatedly asks you to act in ways that conflict with your values, especially in systems where harm is normalized, this can lead to moral injury.
Leyla holds a B.Sc. in Molecular Biomedicine & an M.Sc. in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience. She began her career in animal research laboratories studying neural signaling pathways in mice before leaving the field for ethical & scientific reasons.
π Register for webinar: bit.ly/TheHumanCost
π£ We are excited to introduce Leyla Fox, M.Sc., one of the three panelists and former animal lab workers featured in Justifyβs upcoming webinar on Thursday, April 23 β The Human Cost of Animal Research: When Compassion Becomes Moral Injury.
π Register for the webinar now: bit.ly/TheHumanCost
Read Emily's blog here: www.whenwejustify.org/post/leaving...
β¨ THIS JUST IN: Former lab worker, Emily, reflects on how she stumbled onto a career path in animal research that initially felt exciting and meaningful but grew to feel at odds with her gut and identity.
Read Emily's blog here: www.whenwejustify.org/post/leaving...
I said what I said. #Punch
Punchβs story is not about a mother failing her baby. It is about a system that brought him into existence for a purpose he did not choose.
Whether for entertainment or research, humans are the common denominator. If we are going to talk about suffering, we have to be honest about where it begins.
The thing is, there is nothing natural about a life engineered for captivity.
It is the outcome of deliberate human decisions to breed animals into captivity. β¬οΈ
In the lab, reproduction wasnβt natural. Females were routinely placed into cages with designated βbreederβ males. It wasnβt chosen, and it wasnβt always gentle.
β¬οΈ
βI spent two years as a caretaker for more than 500 macaques in a primate laboratory.
Caring for rejected newborns like Punch was one of the most heartbreaking parts of my job. β¬οΈ
π‘When people talk about Punchβs suffering, some point to his mother. Some blame the troop. But that framing lets us look everywhere except where we should. Yes, rejection βand hardship happen in natureβ. But Punch wasnβt born βiβn nature. β¬οΈ
Every photo I see of Punch is like looking into the eyes of the babies in the lab once again, and a stark reminder that babies just like Punch are being rejected all the time - only the rejection and the suffering is behind closed doors where the public cannot see.
Would something like this occur in the wild? Certainly. That doesn't negate the fact that the scale at which this suffering is occurring is unacceptable, happening only because humans have decided they belong in captivity... that they are our entertainment and our tools to be used and discarded. β¬οΈ
What's unique is that he, himself, is a unique individual, and like so many individuals, he is suffering because of humans' determination to control the bodies of other beings. β¬οΈ
As you consider Punch's reality - what he and the other monkeys in this Zoo deserve - please understand that Punch's story is not unique. What's unique is that it made headlines. β¬οΈ
Every once in a while, one individual sparks the human world to stop for a moment and consider the reality for a nonhuman animal. Right now, that individual is sweet, small, Punch. β¬οΈ
The common denominator here is the role humans play in dictating the lives of animals. Whether bred into captivity for entertainment or science, individuals suffer on massive scales. β¬οΈ
You, the foster mom, take the baby in with open arms (literally, I've seen this), eager to do what is natural to you, comfort and raise a baby. But that baby will be taken from you like all the others. β¬οΈ
Now you've been given a baby sooner than expected because another mother, likely due to it being her first baby and she being a younger macaque, rejected that baby, leaving him at the bottom of her cage. β¬οΈ
Imagine for a second being a mother monkey in a lab, forced to have baby after baby, loving them with all their heart, only to have each one ripped from you. β¬οΈ
When successfully cross-fostered to a new monkey mom, a rejected newborn would experience the comfort and love of another mother, only to be forcibly removed from her in 6-12 months time. They would never see each other again. β¬οΈ
One weekend, I discovered a rejected newborn, just like Punch, dead in an incubator. That same weekend, a second rejected newborn, just like Punch, had a seizure and died in my hands. β¬οΈ
While initially in awe of how adorable the babies were, and having what felt like the privilege to hold and feed them with their arms and legs clutching me so tightly, morphed into dread knowing that rejection from their mothers was only the first of many traumas they were destined to experience. β¬οΈ
I need you to know that "Punch" is in primate laboratories all over the world.
What do I mean by this? I spent two years as a caretaker for 500+ macaques at the UW-Madison's Harlow Primate Lab. Caring for rejected newborn macaques, like Punch, was one of the most gut-wrenching parts of the job. β¬οΈ
Justify works with current and former lab workers, psychologists, and scientists toβ¦ β¬οΈ
π Justify's first webinar, The Human Cost of Animal Research: When Compassion Becomes Moral Injury, is taking place Thursday, April 23 from 4-5 pm PST!
Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/TheHumanCost
Here's a thoughtful take on a contentious topic by @mbolotnikova.bsky.social .... www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Show Justify some love this Valentine's Day by sporting our official merch!
Get yours here: https://www.whenwejustify.org/category/all-products
β₯οΈ for animals.
β₯οΈ for humans.
β₯οΈ for science.
Ever wonder if other animal lab workers feel the same conflict you do? Turns out they do, and Justifyβs Lab Worker Hub is where they connect: https://www.whenwejustify.org/lab-worker-hub
Ever wonder if other animal lab workers feel the same conflict you do?
Turns out they do, and Justifyβs Lab Worker Hub is where they connect: www.whenwejustify.org/lab-worker-hub
Guess who *just* dropped merch?! π€
www.whenwejustify.org/category/all...
