The fact that science experiments on animals is not a new thing. For decades, scientists have used cruel methods justified in that it is a scientific achievement for the planet. Of the thousands of stories that exist in the world of investigation, those of Laika and Excalibur break the heart.
In addition to humans, the rest of the living beings deserve to live fully in the world in which they were born. Scientists seem to forget this statement and, in some cases, they only work for the survival of our race.
With this behavior, this group of professionals who received an education of the highest level, only demonstrate ignorance. Making an animal suffer in order to travel to space, or not giving it the opportunity to live because it represents an additional expense, is an obsolete action.
The issue raised in this review is that it happened in the past with Laika and in current times with Excalibur. It is precisely for this reason that both stories are presented below.
Laika and a group of dogs sacrificed for space trips
According to what you review very interestinge, Laika’s history dates back to the late 1950s; a time when Americans and Soviets were running at full speed in a race to reach space.
The aforementioned portal recalls that the Russians came up with the idea that before sending a cosmonaut to Earth’s orbit, it was better to send a stray dog. The result of this “brilliant” idea was a group of quadrupeds sacrificed while they were testing and subjecting the animals to extreme conditions.
Laika was chosen to travel within the Sputnik 2, second spacecraft to go above the atmosphere in the history of mankind. It happened on November 3, 1957.
The entire process was cruel, but perhaps worst of all, a large group of dogs were subjected to the same environment, in which several died after failing to withstand the challenges. Laika, ironically, survived to die.
They sent her on the space probe on November 3, 1957 with food for a week. The ship returned on April 14, 1958, five months later, amid explosions. Clearly the dog had already died after all that time in orbit.
The animal’s trainer said in 2002 that Laika had died just five hours after takeoff, as a result of the heat caused by friction when leaving the planet. That served so that four years later Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly over the Earth’s orbit.
Excalibur didn’t get a second chance
Another case that was justified for the benefit of the planet is that of Excalibur, in 2014. A nurse named Teresa Romero arrived in Spain infected with Ebola. Her husband, Javier, was quarantined inside a hospital.
So, while Teresa was fighting for her life and Javier was waiting for lab results, Excalibur was isolated in the Spanish couple’s home. They left him food for a week, but the Iberian government authorized the dog’s sacrifice by means of an order, without even knowing if he had the virus.
Without much ado, they killed the puppy. Javier did not have Ebola and Teresa recovered, but Excalibur was killed.
The case caused a stir in Spain, to the point that there were protests that turned violent. In addition, there was also a movement on social networks called #SalvemosAExcalibur, in which pets from around the world “spoke out” in favor of the puppy.
The couple sued the state and claimed compensation. They lost the case, but at least they got a chance to adopt a dog named Alma.