From Elephants to Mice , livre ebook

Turner Publishing Company - James Mahoney

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

150 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

A heartfelt narrative on the many ways animals touch our lives

Join veterinarian and animal lover James Mahoney as he shares heartfelt and often heart-wrenching stories of a cast of creatures who left a permanent mark on his soul. More than just a sentimental memoir, this thought-provoking collection raises such issues as whether animals experience the same types of emotions as humans, whether it is right to use animals in medical research, and even whether animals might have a sense of humor.

Whether you're a dedicated animal activist or just a compassionate animal lover, these unlikely stories of survival, freedom, dignity, courage, and love will leave you deeply affected.
Acknowledgements.

Introduction: A Life in Research.

1. The Power of Dignity and Courage.

2. A Life in Captivity.

3. Survival of the Fittest.

4. Humor in Animals.

5. Personality in Animals.

6. A Story of Love.

7. The Caribbean Trio.

8. The Gang of Four.

9. Three Wild Mice.

10. Great Escapes.

11. The Last of the Sparrows.

Epilogue.

With Gratitude.

Suggestions for Further Reading.

Index.

Sujets

Narratives

Essays

Pets

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	09 mars 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780470633984
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0700€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

From Elephants to Mice
Animals Who Have Touched My Soul
Dr. James Mahoney
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2010 by James Mahoney. All rights reserved.
Howell Book House
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Howell Book House, and related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Mahoney, James, date.
From elephants to mice : animals who have touched my soul / James Mahoney.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-470-50158-0
ISBN-10: 0-470-50158-8
1. Mahoney, James, 1940–2. Veterinarians—United States—Biography. 3. Animals—Psychology. 4. Human-animal relationships. 5. Animal welfare. I. Title.
SF613.M3A3 2010
636.089092--dc22
2010002927
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Book design by Erin Zeltner
Cover design by Wendy Mount
Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services
All photos © James Mahoney except page 80 © istockphoto.com/ Elemental Imaging, page 82 © istockphoto.com/ Michael Stubblefield, and page 108 © Dr. Ben Gasirowski.
To my wife, Marie-Paule, who often showed me the way. She shared everything but sometimes carried the burden alone. It was always a nice burden, though; never a chore. In earlier days she was helped by our three “sparrows,” Pádraig, Nathalie, and Christopher, who have since left the nest and carried their compassion with them. Proud and grateful I am of them all!
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,
The Little Prince
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: A Life in Research
1 . The Power of Dignity and Courage
2 . A Life in Captivity
3 . Survival of the Fittest
4 . Humor in Animals
5 . Personality in Animals
6 . A Story of Love
7 . The Caribbean Trio
8 . The Gang of Four
9 . Three Wild Mice
10 . Great Escapes
11 . The Last of the Sparrows
Epilogue
With Gratitude
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
Many of the stories I tell in this book are about the monkeys and chimpanzees I worked with in the confines of the research laboratory. I owe twenty years of gratitude on behalf of the animals to the caregivers, or technicians, as they were proud to call themselves. Without their dedication, love, and compassion, there would be no story to tell, or at least not one that I would wish to tell. To most outsiders, the term technician sounds so cold and unfeeling, yet to them it was a badge of honor, a recognition of their aspirations to give the very best of themselves to the animals, never to give them second best. They carried a great burden. When interviewing candidates for openings as animal technicians, I always asked, “How do you feel about using animals in research?” I never selected a person who answered, “I have no problem with that.”
I extend a special thanks to Doug Cohn, my veterinary colleague for nine years. We still keep in touch and ask for each other’s opinion now and then. I know that he will never set aside the torch of caring.
A special thank you goes to the staff at Publishers Weekly who opened a door for me, in particular Reviews Director Louisa Ermelino and Senior Editor Lynn Andriani. Lynn amusingly reported my unintended pun in the magazine, that I was mainly looking for someone who would tell me, “‘This is great’” or “As the animal doctor puts it, ‘You’re barking up the wrong tree.’”
I am indebted to Cynthia Kitchel, Vice President and Publisher at Wiley Publishing, Inc., for taking my proposal. I would also like to thank Wendy Mount, who artistically created the cover for the book.
My deepest gratitude goes to Pam Mourouzis, my editor, someone to whom I have bared my soul. She carried me along when I sometimes started to lose my way, put up with my many typographical errors and genuine misspellings without losing her patience, and was always so cheerful and encouraging.
Then there are the animals, the crathers, as my mother used to call them. I thank them for letting me see the other side of life and allowing me to share in their world. I have never taken them for granted.
I hope I don’t let any of you down.
Introduction
A Life in Research
For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.
—Henry Beston (1888–1968)
I t all started in 1977 during a visit I had long planned to the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), a primate lab belonging to New York University in upstate New York. There I had a chance encounter with a little chimp who would totally change my life. I don’t think I ever knew his name, but he was an impudent-looking little 21⁄2-year-old. He was being led by the hand by a young woman dressed in the typical lab costume: blue cotton surgical scrub suit, disposable face mask hanging below her chin, paper booties, and a bouffant hat that held her long golden hair in place. She had stepped through a doorway in front of me, taking me quite by surprise. I had obviously taken the little chimp by surprise, too, because as he looked up at me he scrunched his face into an expression that clearly said he thought I shouldn’t be there. He reached out with a clenched fist and, with all the might he could muster, gave me a backhanded punch behind the knee.
I had never come face to face with a chimpanzee before. Like most people, I had seen chimps in television commercials and in movies, but never in the flesh. Incredible! I found myself thinking. It must be the ultimate experience to work with chimps. As unrealistic and even arrogant as it seems to me now, I couldn’t help thinking to myself that I should try to find a way to convince Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski, the director of LEMSIP, that he should offer me a job in the not-too-distant future as gynecologist, obstetrician, and pediatrician to the chimps.
I have often rued the day that little chimp hit me behind the knee. If it hadn’t been for him, I might not have spent the rest of my life brooding and pondering, an increasing sense of guilt eating away at my heart, questioning the morality of what I was doing, this seemingly noble use of nonhuman animals for the betterment of humankind.
Although I am a veterinarian, I also became a research scientist in my own right. My first research project at LEMSIP, in fact, involved a study of pelvic inflammatory disease in baboons fitted with various types of human intrauterine devices, the results of which were a major reason for the withdrawal of one of the contraceptive devices from the market. As the years went by, I also became increasingly involved in overseeing research projects that dealt with vaccine development and testing in hepatitis and, in more recent times, studies on HIV and AIDS.
Yet I considered myself an animal lover. How could that be? How could I so readily acc