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Recently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' Bruce Friedrich posted a bizarre appeal on behalf of convicted arsonist and animal rights activist Frank Allen. It seems Allen and his family are unhappy with the way prison official are treating him.
Among the laundry list of complaints presented in Friedrich's email is that Allen is "receiving an incorrect dosage of insulin" to treat his Diabetes.
Insulin? Insulin treatment for diabetes was developed through animal experimentation and for decades diabetics avoided health problems and premature death by using insulin derived primarily from pigs (insulin derived from humans is now available).
As Michael Bliss, author of The Discovery of Insulin, sums up the role of animal experiments in diabetes treatment,
The discovery of insulin in the early 1920s stands as one of the outstanding examples in medical history of the successful use of animal experimentation to improve the human condition. Insulin would not have been isolated, at Toronto or anywhere else, without the sacrifice of thousands of dogs. These dogs made it possible for millions of humans to live.
Allen wants and Friederich supports access to a medical technology developed with techniques that both men are committed to abolishing.