If you’d like to see a bibliophibian getting drenched in water rather than books, follow this link!

In summary: I did the Ice Bucket Challenge. I nominate my mother, Amy and Rachel, and I will be donating anyway. If it so happens that you’re against animal testing, you may not want to donate to the ALSA: they do testing on C. elegans worms and on engineered mice with the faulty gene, as well as a kind of fish. If you oppose that, you might want to donate to the British MNDA instead: I’m not positive there’s no animal testing, but it funds all kinds of research, much of it not involving animals.

Funding is important, but so is awareness and understanding. Do consider reading up on what ALS is and how it affects people, and reach out in whatever way you can.

Note: I do not support unnecessary animal research. However, I’m aware of many cases where essential and important medications, vaccines, etc, have been tested on animals. I do recommend this comment I found online without attribution:

“People who protest animal testing in the search for a cure to a disease should be asked to wear a bracelet that states that they refuse any treatment, remedy, or drug that was developed using animal testing. By doing so they would demonstrate that their ethical position against animal testing is so sincere that they would condemn themselves to the same fate to which they are willing to condemn others.”

That’s just food for thought: it certainly made me think. Whatever ethical decisions you make, thinking it through instead of knee-jerking is crucial, or it isn’t an ethical decision at all.