ANIMAL TESTING - Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

Animal Testing – Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

Question: Which personal care, non-pharmaceutical products are required by law to be tested on animals?

Answer: None!

Yes, that's right. There is NO law that requires companies to test their personal care and household products on animals before selling them to consumers!

Each year about FIVE MILLION dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, monkeys, and other animals die in lethal dose tests performed in the U.S. During a lethal dose test, the expiremental substance is forced into the animals throats, or is pumped into their stomachs by a tube, sometimes causing death by stomach rupture or from the sheer bulk of the chemical dosage. Substances are mixed in lab chows, injected under the skin, into a vein, or into the lining of the abdomen, they are often applied to the eyes, rectum and vagina or forciblly inhaled through a gas mask. Expirementers observe the animal's reaction which include convulsions, laboured breathing, diarrhea, constipation, skin eruptions, abnormal posture, and bleeding from the eyes, nose or mouth. According to statistics, 50% of these animals will die in this expirement 2 to 3 weeks later.
The horrible fact about these incidents is that they are unneccesarry as there exists cheaper, efficient and more realistic results that can be used instead of animals.

AWFUL DEATHS
Late 2001 and 2002: death of three monkeys at University of Wisconsin-Madison

August 2003: death of a beagle at Pfizer Pharmaceutical
A beagle was scalded to death at Pfizer Pharmaceutical in Kalamazoo, Michigan when he was mistakenly sent through a cage-washing system and subjected to sanitizing liquid heated to 180 degrees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture looked into the dog's death and closed the investigation by issuing a warning that goes on the company's record. (Source: Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2004)

July 2004: death of three monkeys at University of Wisconsin-Madison
The director at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison confirmed that three marmosets were killed from heat exposure after being left in a cage that was sent through a sanitizer. The Alliance for Animals filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture stating that the center needs to reassess its policies and procedures. (Sources: Associated Press, August 26, 2004)

TODAYS ALTERNATIVES:
* "Synthetic skin," called Corrositex
* Computer modeling
* Improved statistical design
* The Murine Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA)

DID YOU KNOW: Revlon Cosmetics was one of the first large companies to fund research for alternatives with a $750,000 contribution to the Rockefeller University in 1979.

HERE’S A LIST OF COMPANIES THAT DO NOT TEST ON ANIMALS: Abercrombie & Fitch, Almay, Avon, Bath & Body Works, Body Glove Skin & Hair Care, Bonne Bell, Chanel, Inc., Christian Dior, Clinique, Dep, Estee Lauder, Revlon, Gucci, Henri Bendel, Jean Nate, Jessica McClintock, Conair, Liz Claiborne, Nexxus, Pathmark Supermarkets , Prescriptives, Redken, Revlon, Rusk, Tom's of Maine, Trader Joe's, and Victoria's Secret*.
Want to purchase products that were not animal tested? http://www.veganmercantile.com