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Chapter 8. "How Many Rabbits Does Revlon Blind for Beauty's Sake?" -- Tribute To Henry Spira
I can't remember the exact date, but I do remember the story which hit all of the front pages of New York City newspapers somewhere around 1979.
A puppy had survived the decompression chamber used to euthanize unadopted animals at the ASPCA.* The puppy was discovered still alive by a Sanitation worker whose unfortunate job it was to cart away all the bodies of dogs and cats put to death on a daily basis in our then-animal control city pound.
Normally, stories like this elicit temporary shock from the public (and hundreds of offers to adopt the saved cat or dog) but then quickly fade to obscurity. Few people think much about the underlying issue -- in this case, the unreliability and cruelty of decompression chambers. The one exception to this was Henry Spira.
Henry Spira, a former teacher and activist for human rights had already waged a successful campaign against cruelty to animals. He confronted the Museum of Natural History in the mid 1970's regarding cruel experiments on cats which had been conducted for more than 20 years and involved various mutilations on the animals in order to study "the effects on cats' sexual behavior." Henry researched the experiments and wrote detailed articles which were then published in "Our Town" (a Manhattan weekly) newspaper. Henry organized an effective letter-writing campaign and weekly demonstrations against the Museum which occurred over many months.
Ultimately, due to the embarrassment, bad press and constant public pressure, the Museum was forced to end the horrific experiments on cats.
Shortly following the story of the puppy who survived the decompression chamber, Henry took up the banner to ban these cruel devices in New York State. But, the battle would not be easy.
The argument supporting the use of decompression chambers (which is still employed widely today in those states which use them) is that they were more "cost effective" than lethal injection. Despite the fact there was much anecdotal evidence indicating that the decompression chamber was not always "effective" in killing puppies and kittens, in debates involving ethics towards animals and money, money usually wins.
Once again however, Henry did the research, lobbied various state Legislators and inspired a letter-writing campaign through articles printed in Our Town newspaper. Other media picked up the issue and the story. Most of the large humane organizations joined in the campaign, urging their members to also write letters. Some activists organized demonstrations against the ASPCA. It took a couple of years, but eventually New York became one of the premiere states to ban the decompression chamber. Sadly, the deadly and archaic device is still used today in many states, including California, Texas and Illinois.
I met Henry Spira a few times both during the course of his campaign against the decompression chamber and his later successful endeavors against Revlon and their cruel cosmetic experiments on animals, most specifically rabbits.
"How Many Rabbits Does Revlon Blind for Beauty's Sake?" was the headline blaring on hundreds of posters which greeted the Revlon Corporate offices in Manhattan one bright, sunny day. The blowup picture on the signs carried by almost 1,000 people featured a rabbit whose eyes were seared by caustic chemicals in a common experiment called the "Draize Test." The Draize Test was in regular use by Revlon and all the other big cosmetic companies throughout most of the last century. It involved dropping chemicals, shampoos and other cosmetic products into the eyes of live rabbits in order to "study the effects." But, Henry Spira sought to change all that and focused all his efforts and insights to effect that change.
"Its simple," Henry told me when we had occasion to meet in those early campaigns. "You can't go after all the companies using the experiment. "You start with the biggest and best known. -- In this case, Revlon." "People will defend what they think is necessary for medical benefits. But, they are not going to defend horrific experiments for frivolous purpose." "You need to keep a focus and you need to be sure it is something people can relate to." "You then research alternatives and provide documentation." "When you have all that done, you go to the company and demand change. If they don't respond, you take your case to the public and to the press."
I admired Henry Spira for his idealism combined with practicality and pragmatism. Everyone knew Revlon. Few people could defend what Revlon was doing.
The campaign against Revlon gained wide media coverage and hit all the major TV news channels. Try as they did, Revlon PR people could not adequately defend the horrors inflicted on defenseless animals for trivial cause. Cruelties which were not required by law. Within months Revlon was forced to cave into public pressure and boycotts and cease cosmetic testing on animals. Henry Spira had proved that the experiments were neither necessary nor required. They had been conducted for mostly legal reasons: To protect the company against possible lawsuits.
But, mostly Henry Spira proved that with pragmatism, hard work and dedication, one could confront Corporate Giants and win. One could speak for the oppressed and the powerless and bring both, voice and justice to them.
In later years, Henry Spira waged successful campaigns against other cosmetic companies for change, as well as chicken industry giant, Frank Purdue. Through his research, Henry discovered that not only did the Frank Purdue Corporation abuse chickens, but also their employees. Women workers at Purdue complained that with chicken packing lines moving so fast, they often couldn't get time to go to the bathroom. Henry's campaign against injustices in the meat packing industry were thus not only about animal rights, but human rights as well.
A few years ago, Henry Spira died from cancer. His death represents a great loss to the cause of justice and right for animals, for we as yet have no replacement. Henry Spira's wisdom, leadership skills, determination, accomplishments and pragmatism are unmatched.
I greatly miss him -- as do all those without power, be they human or animal. Henry Spira was a crusader for the meek, the oppressed and the innocent. He gave voice to those without. He brought the light of truth and media glare to those areas of shame we too often choose to keep in the dark. He was an inspiration to me.
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* The ASPCA no longer does animal control or animal control euthanasia in New York City. That duty is now carried out by the NYCACC.