Dear Friend,
This year, six to eight million animals will be killed every month in our nation's commercial, military, and federally funded university laboratories.
That's up to 100 million animal lives lost. Why?
At a cost running into the billions of tax and consumer dollars, animal experimentation has become a habit - a very bad habit - one that is often scientifically unnecessary, medically unreliable and always undeniably cruel.
That is why we at PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - are distributing the enclosed referendum to you and to thousands of other caring Americans as a major step towards awakening our elected officials and the general public to this tragedy.
But before you agree, or disagree, we feel it's important that you know the facts.
Particularly cruel are tests to which roughly 10 million animals are subjected each year to test new products. For example:
- The household products industry determines the poison level of floor wax and detergents by injecting gallons of these subtances into the stomachs, or under the skin, of beagles, rabbits, and calves...producing vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, convulsions and paralysis. There is a so-called Lethal Dose 50 test, which ends only when half of the animals have died - with no anesthesia or painkillers.
- The cosmetics industry subjects rabbits, immobilized in metal "stocks" to the infamous Draize test. The rabbits' eyes are smeared with drugs, nail polish remover, hair spray or shampoo...and since rabbits have no tear ducts, they cannot wash their eyes clean. The predictable results are corneal ulcers, hemorrhaging, and blindness.
New technologies offer us proven alternatives that are far cheaper, more exact, and more humane. Like sophisticated computer assays, simulated tissue and body fluids, live cell cultures, mass spectrometry and gas chromatography - not to mention the use of cadavers - which the American Opthalmology Association calls our "most ignored and valued research tool.".
But that is only part of the story.
The victims of these and many other equally cruel and painful tests include horses and lambs, calves, cows, pigs, goats, doves, kittens, mice, turtles, other wildlife and man's closest living relative - the chimpanzee. No living being is exempt. Not even "man's best friend".
As a matter of fact, your own dog or cat could easily become one of these victims...because each year, "pound seizure" laws force unwilling animal shelters to turn over some 200,000 lost cats or dogs to experimentation.
But make no mistake. Wherever these animals come from, they are all sensitive, vulnerable, beings with distinct personalities.
And just like you and me, they are capable of suffering the pain of poisoning, loneliness, fear and confusion...even if they cannot express their agony in words.
That's why PETA has been fighting for years now, often in dramatic and dangerous settings, to establish their rights...And today, the tide of public opinion has begun to shift.
Why? Because the facts are absolutely compelling.
Apologists for animal abuse keep trying to convince us that animal pain is a small price to pay "in the name of science".
But the sad truth is, live animal experiments can be totally unreliable. A dog, a cat, a monkey, and a guinea pig all hav e vastly different physiologies from each other. And from humans, too.
Even a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Adminstration admits, "Compared to most contemporary biological techniques, animal testing is crude, cumbersome, and expensive."
Test results based on animal reactions can also be terribly misleading. Particularly after the stress and fatigue of isolation and laboratory life grossly distort their reactions.
That's why drugs like thalidomide and swine flu vaccine - both of which passed animal "safety" tests with flying colors - have resulted in thousands of human deaths and deformities...and much unnecessary suffering, both animal and human.
And still, we constantly hear of other "safe" drugs being withdrawn from the market following fatal side effects on humans.
Most organizations that use live animals for testing never even bother to consider alternatives.
The fact is, most experimenters simply cling to familiar habits our of ignorance, apathy or vested interest. And they keep right on churning out the same duplicative research year after year that costs animals' lives...while you and I pay for it.
The powerful animal supply industry actively encourages this waste. Huge, international conglomerates not only breed animals on U.S. "farms", but trap 25,000 baby primates each year in foreign jungles, helping to decimate their native population, and pushing many species to the brink of extinction.
So you see, reforming animal reseach makes good sense. And it makes good science...but it takes pressure from people like you to get our elected representatives to enforce this logic.
To this day, there is no restriction whatsoever on the uses to which experiments may put their helpless victims...once they get behind the closed doors of a laboratory.
But - thanks to the kind of direct action and public education campaigns PETA has sponsored, this abysmal situation could soon change.
- As a result of PETA's expos`es, boycotts, and considerable public pressure, Revlon, Avon and Estee Lauder, leaders in the cosmetics industry, yielded to compassionate consumers' demands and agreed to stop all product testing on animals. And most recently, Gillette, long a target of PETA's unrelenting attacks, has finally announced a moratorium on animal testing!
- PETA revealed how General Motors, the giant car manufacturer, was the only automaker in the world to use animals in crash tests..."impacting" to death primates, ferrets, dogs, and other animals. Out international campaign, along with widespread consumer pressure, led GM to announce in 1993 that it had ended all "animal trauma research" activity!
- Scores of international oil companies submitted to PETA and consumers' demands after our expose revealed that tens of thousands of birds and bats were burning to death in open oil production exhaust stacks. Today, corporate giants, Mobil, Texaco, Penzoil, Phillips Petroleum, Shell, and other oil companies have yielded to pressure and agreed to cap all open exhaust stacks!
- PETA distributed a humane education program for every elementary school in the U.S., public and private. Developed to teach children compassion for animals, the unique program reached more than nine million schoolchildren.
We have launched a NATIONAL CARING CONSUMER CAMPAIGN to stop the use and abuse of animals in product testing. Our actions include:
- A National Education Drive to tell people about cruelty-free product alternatives...products that don't depend on animal suffering for their testing or ingredients.
- Targeting blatant corporate abusers of animals - bringing public and scientific pressure to bear on these companies to mend their ways. Now nearly 600 companies have given PETA their written assurance that they will not conduct product testing on animals!
- Promoting legislation and government policies designed to protect animals from abuse.
Many other steps are planned, but we need you to become a vital part of PETA's historic NATIONAL CARING CONSUMER CAMPAIGN. Please help future generations of animals from cruel and pointless suffering in the following three ways:
First, please complete the enclosed ballot and return it to us as soon as possible. The results will be of inestimable value in persuading the media, Congress, and federal officials that change is necessary in the way animals are treated.
Second, write to the Food and Drug Adminstration. The FDA is the government agency that establishes guidelines for product safety and effectiveness testing. Urge the FDA Commissioner to immediately take whatever steps are necessary to replace regulations requiring hideously cruel animal tests with more accurate non-animal tests. (Address: Michael A. Friedman, Acting Commissioner, Food and Drug Adminstration, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland, 20857.).
Third, double the impact of your convictioins by making the most generous tax-deductible gift you possibly can...to support PETA's landmark, hard-hitting and effective work.
Few gifts you make this year will have a more resounding impact. Because every dollar you send is put to work instantly - sponsoring crucial legal cases, public education - and direct veterinary care - to save animals from senseless and excruciating pain.
When you join our efforts to stop cruely to animals, you'll recieve our informative magazine, Animal Times - and a copy of our "Guide to Compassionate Living". A practical and handy booklet full of tips on how to stop animal suffering in your own daily life.
So please, put your conscience to work right now. We need your help urgently because we've calculated that every second that passes costs three more animals their lives.
Remember, procrastination is exactly what has allowed painful animal experiments to continue for so long. Our animal friends are counting on you to help. In advance, thank you for responding to their silent but desperate plea.
Sincerely,
Alex Pacheco
Chairperson
Please fill out the ballot and mail it to:
PETA
501 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
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