______________________________________________________________________________ T ||==\\ || || ||==\\ ||==|| || || B L E N D E R C O R P O R A T I O N || || || || || || || \\ // ------------------------------------ H || || || || ||==// ||=|| >|< >>> Presents <<< || || || || || \\ || // \\ RABBIT1 .DBC E ||==// \\==// || \\ ||==|| || || #012-AA05 -- [10/21/91] ______________________________________________________________________________ To Shave or Not To Shave ------------------- by Aldebaran Arghat It was 10 am, and Cathal Coughlin listened to the news on the radio as he brushed his teeth. The top story was a large animal rights demonstration against the Gilette Corporation. The demonstrators were demanding that an end be put to the mistreatment of animals, and the use of animals in expirimentation. Earlier that day, in the very same city, a small rabbit awoke and looked around her. Every day, she found the same cramped cage in the same large room. There was a small sign on the side of her cage which read "Gilette Laboratories, Weston PA; Rabbit, white; female (#397)". She stretched, turned, and looked into her food container. As usual, a handful of food pellets had been put in during the night. She ate the pellets quickly, and looked around her. The room was the same as always. Small animals, mainly rabbits and mice were held in small cages. There was a strong stench of feces, which was sometimes overpowered by the acrid smell of disinfectant. As usual, a young man in a clean white lab coat came into the room with a wheeled metal cart. He checked a list on his clipboard, and began picking up some of the cages of the animals and placing them on his cart. The white rabbit cowered in the corner of the cage as the man came towards her. She had been lucky up to this point; she had not yet been taken from the room by the orderly. But today, the man walked over towards her cage, and after checking his list, picked up her cage and placed it on the cart with the others. She nervously sat in her cage, as the cart was wheeled out of the room and down a long, brightly-lit hallway. The orderly opened another door and rolled the cart into a large laboratory. There were two men here who met the orderly and took the cages off the cart and placed them onto a table. The rabbit trembled nervously as the two men discussed what the rabbits were here for. Today, they would be testing for any harmful effects of an aftershave lotion. The rabbit scampered back and forth in the cage as the man put on a pair of heavy gloves and opened up her cage. She froze in fear as the man lifted her out of her cage and put her into a restraining device on the table. She struggled and tried to escape the bonds, but she could not move. She watched as the same was done to some of the other rabbits, her heart beating furiously. The two men spoke for a moment, and then drew a glass flask out of a cabinet. The flask held a blue tinted liquid with a sharp scent. The rabbit continued struggling as the scientists came towards her. One of them forced her eyes open, as the other filled an eye dropper with the liquid. Extreme pain swept over the rabbit as the liquid was poured onto her eyes. She was helpless and unable to stop the pain. The same was done with many of the other rabbits. The scientists watched coldly as the rabbits squirmed and went through spasms of pain. After five minutes of this, the scientists concluded that the formula for the aftershave lotion would have altered somewhat, and left the room to write up their reports. The rabbits, still in tremendous pain, were taken into another room, and left to die. The news report was concluded when Mr Coughlin was just finishing shaving. He opened up his mirrored bathroom cabinet, and took out the small bottle labeled "Ultra Aftershave, by Gilette". He opened the bottle and poured some on his hands. He started to rub the lotion onto his face, but then paused. His mind went back to the report of the demonstration, back to the descriptions of the pain and suffering the animals went through. Then he chuckled. "What a load of bull! Nobody would do that to an animal just for aftershave!" With that, he finished rubbing the aftershave into his face, closed the bottle, and walked out of the bathroom. ______________________________________________________________________________ (C)1991 by The Durex Blender Corporation & Aldebaran Arghat All Rights Available at the Door. No Reservations. *** Spread the word of Turnex, the Blender for the Next Millenium. *** The Durex Blender Corporation : Boston (617) 696-8156 - 24oo/8N1 - 24 hours