Columbia Grad Returns His Ph.D. to Protest Animal Cruelty
On Tuesday, May 17--the day before Columbia University’s 251st Commencement--Dr. Charles Patterson returned his doctorate to the Office of the President to protest Columbia's ongoing mistreatment of animals in its labs.
(PRWEB) May 18, 2005 -- On the day before Columbia University’s 251st
Commencement on Wed., May 18, Charles Patterson (Ph.D.‘70) returned his
doctorate to the Office of President Lee Bollinger in Low Library, Rm. 202, to
protest his alma mater's abuse of animals.
Patterson, the author of
Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust, is upset by the
cruelty practiced at Columbia by Doctors Mehmet Oz, E. Sander Connolly, Michel
Ferin, Raymond Stark, and other Columbia vivisectors. He says, "Dr. Josef
Mengele, who conducted experiments on Jews and Gypsies at Auschwitz (he had two
doctorates, by the way), would have fit in quite nicely at Columbia."
The title of Patterson's book Eternal Treblinka--now in seven
languages--comes from the Yiddish writer and Nobel Laureate, Isaac Bashevis
Singer, to whom the book is dedicated. "In relation to them, all people are
Nazis," he wrote, "for animals it is an eternal Treblinka." (Treblinka was a
Nazi death camp north of Warsaw.)
Columbia has a long history of animal
abuse and grotesque experiments (visit http://www.ColumbiaCruelty.com), but it took Dr. Catherine
Dell'Orto, a post-doctoral veterinarian fellow, to blow the whistle on the
university's latest transgressions: "What I saw at Columbia still gives me
nightmares. I saw baboons whose left eyes had been cut out--so that major blood
vessels could be clamped off through the empty eye sockets to induce
strokes--who had collapsed in their cages, unable even to lift their heads, eat,
or drink. They were left to die without painkillers."
Columbia students,
staff, faculty, and alumni who are concerned about this problem and want to do
something about it are constantly rebuffed by the administration. President
Bollinger refuses to meet with them to discuss the issue.
One of the
most important lessons of the Holocaust, Patterson believes, is that we must
never again remain silent in the face of evil. In the words of Auschwitz
survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never
the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
"While I worked long and hard for my doctorate (it included writing a
320-page dissertation)," says Patterson, "the lives of the innocent and helpless
are more important than a piece of paper."
He also has a Master of Arts
degree in English literature from Columbia. When asked if he was planning on
returning that degree as well, he said, "No, I'm going to hold onto it for
awhile. However, if Columbia doesn't curb its cruelty soon, maybe I'll return
that one too. I only wish I could do more."
Eternal Treblinka: Our
Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust
by Charles Patterson
Lantern Books,
New York, 2002 (2nd printing)
ISBN 1-930051-99-9
http://www.powerfulbook.com
Translations: German, Italian,
Polish, Czech, Croatian, Hebrew (forthcoming)
Praise from Around the
World--
"The moral challenge posed by Eternal Treblinka turns it into a
must for anyone who seeks to delve into the universal lesson of the Holocaust."
--Maariv (Israeli newspaper)
"Necessary reading matter...very
thought-provoking." --Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
"You must read this
carefully documented book" --La Stampa (Italian national
newspaper)
"Important and timely...written with great sensitivity and
compassion...I hope that Eternal Treblinka will be widely read."--Martyrdom and
Resistance (Holocaust publication), New York
"Charles Patterson's book
will go a long way towards righting the terrible wrongs that human beings,
throughout history, have perpetrated on non-human animals. I urge you to read it
and think deeply about its important message." --Dr. Jane Goodall, United
Kingdom
"Eternal Treblinka is an eye-opening, thought-provoking book that
I highly recommend." --The Gantseh Megillah, Montreal,
Canada
"Patterson's book sheds light on the violence perpetuated every
day against animals and humans alike so that we might one day put an end to
it."--Moment ("America's Premier Independent Jewish Magazine")
"A
thorough and thought-provoking book" --Ha'aretz (Israeli
newspaper)
"Eternal Treblinka disturbs us because (inevitably though
tactfully) it holds up to us, its readers, a clear mirror to look at ourselves
anew...Kafka would have applauded Eternal Treblinka. It grips like a thriller."
--The Freethinker, United Kingdom
"Compelling, controversial,
iconoclastic...strongly recommended...a unique contribution." --Midwest Book
Review, USA
"The book that breaks all taboos. The book that fires up
controversies all over the world." --Prijatelji Zivotinja, Zagreb,
Croatia
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb241634.htm