Sorry for the lack of posting this past week.  I’ve been back in Boston since Thursday afternoon, and tomorrow I head to Florida for the next six days.  (Don’t worry, The Herd is just fine at home.  The roomie is taking great care of them while I’m gone.)

Why have I been back in Boston?  Well, my dad passed away a couple of weeks ago and was cremated, so this was the weekend for the wake and all of my siblings and I traveled to Boston, along with two nephews (in addition to my nephew and niece who already live here.)  It was great seeing all of them again.

Being back in Boston – I’ve missed my friends but know I can’t live there again.  It is just way, way, WAY too cold.  This weekend there was a nor’easter, and while it didn’t involve snow, it had a LOT of rain and HIGH winds.  Not hurricane force winds, but 60 mph winds still created a lot of downed power lines and trees.

We are reading a book for my Animal Protection class called Voracious Science and Vulnerable Animals, and I have had a tough time getting through it.  I know that in order to educate people, I need to be able to see both sides of an issue, but animal experimentation is just something I can’t wrap my head around anyone thinking it’s okay and relevant.

Non-human animals have so many physical and physiological differences from us, and there is such a disconnect even among the researchers themselves.  People will argue that animals such as primates share so much DNA with us that it makes sense to experiment on them as being our closest “neighbors.”  But if you were to raise the ethical problems that are involved in animal experimentation, then those same people might argue that non-human primates are so removed from us that “it’s not the same as experimenting on a human.” To which I respond with “Well, are they more like us or not like us, which is it?  They can’t be both similar and not similar to us.  Make a choice.”

I’m hoping to meet some more people in my field this week at the Association of Professional Humane Educators conference in Orlando.  I’m sure I will feel more energized after it.  And I’m also going to visit some animal sanctuaries while I am down there.   First will be the Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary, in Punta Gorda, Florida.  Before I return home, I will be volunteering at Journey’s End Animal Sanctuary in Deland, and that I am really jazzed about.  Most of the animals at the second one have disabilities and the focus is not on adoption but providing a safe place for the animals, both domestic and farmed, to live out the rest of their natural lives.

So just an fyi, I might not be able to post as much this week but after I return home on the 11th, I will be getting right back into things, posting more often and reading other blogs to comment on as well.

Wish me luck this week!  If you’ve traveled to Florida, where would you suggest I check out?  I will be staying in St. Pete on Tuesday night as the conference doesn’t start until the afternoon of the 7th.

As always, thanks for reading and for your patience while I’m busy traveling this week!