Amidst moonlit silence on cobblestone floors,

Despereaux sought out the wildness of the shores.

He ran and ran as far as his little legs could take him,

Down the hill he went on all fours.

 

He relished in the coolness of the breeze

But the further he went he developed a wheeze

His chest began forming an unpleasant squeeze

And before he knew it, the pump in his chest bulged out as he sneezed.

 

The threads from his stitches came undone

And pain seared through his chest as he continued to run

He came to a sudden halt, all things jumbled,

The fur on his back all tousled and tumbled. 

 

No matter his difficulty he had to keep moving

For this was his final chance to escape from his removing.

From where he had broken free from, you may be wondering?

From the endless white walls and the monotonous blundering

 

Of the millions of his fellow friends and family caged by his side

Behind stiff iron bars, where their lives flashed before their eyes

As their loved ones were left open on the operating table to die

 

At the hands of the surgeon who claimed medical research couldn’t be denied,

For the sake of the fathers, the children, the wives

Who suffered from chronic diseases for the rest of their lives.

 

But how they were connected Despereaux did not know

Since when should the mouse save the lives of his human foe?

Why his kind had to suffer he would never understand

All he knew was that to escape maybe he too would be granted freedom on this land.

 

For the humans walked so tall like they owned this place

As if the mice had not ruled long before they were displaced,

And now they had no choice but to give in to the human will

For the sake of medical research, to save those who were ill.

 

The sacrifices Despereaux had made were plenty,

He lost his tail in the lab alongside another twenty

Thousand or so marked like prisoners

Awaiting their impending doom, at the hands of the practitioners.

 

This poem sheds light on the unpleasant side to medical research- animal testing. Though medical research is essential to saving numerous human lives, billions of animals, including but not limited to mice, rabbits, monkeys, frogs, and cats, are unfairly euthanized at the expense of hopefully finding answers to long standing scientific questions. This lens of medicine is relevant to understanding how multicultural perspectives play a large role in the justification of animal-testing. Public policies, for example, vary from country to country, reflecting the priorities of different cultural backgrounds. Moreover, other cultures place emphasis on scientific advancement and view animal testing as a necessary means of improving healthcare. Nevertheless, animal welfare should be taken into greater consideration. Understanding this forces us to consider empathizing with not only the humans who are suffering from deadly illnesses, but also with the animals, who are the heroes in disguise as they sacrifice their lives for the sake of saving humanity.