Friday, April 18th, 2003
PAWS
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PAWS Campaign Against Circuses That Use Performing Animals
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Vote Smart is an excellent resource for all sorts of legislation.
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Progressive Animal
Welfare Society
PO Box 1037
Lynnwood WA, 98046
World Week for Animals in Labs begins April 19
World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL), observed from April 19-27, is an annual event designed to expose the plight of animals used for testing and research. WWAIL seeks to make the public aware of animals in laboratories, as well as educate the public about the scientific and economic objections to animal experimentation (also known as vivisection). The existence of a large number of non-animal research methods are rendering vivisection increasingly obsolete, and animal experiments conducted today could be eliminated with the full-scale implementation of alternative methods - without risk to human or animal health.
WWAIL is observed with the hope of ending the misery and pain of animals in laboratories and, at the same time, improving human health. Supported by thousands of animal advocates, physicians, veterinarians, scientists, and healthcare reformers, WWAIL challenges the animal research industry's propaganda with hard facts and fresh perspectives. Science and our ethical relationship with all living creatures must progress beyond vivisection.
NARN and AFA sponsor events and outreach at UW as part of WWAIL
The Northwest Animal Rights Network and Action for Animals have teamed up to put together events for World Week for Animals in Labs. PAWS volunteers and staff will be joining in to help out. For information about these events, go to www.narn.org.
Roger Fouts speaks at UW as part of WWAIL
On April 25, from 5-6 p.m., Roger Fouts, cofounder of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) at Central Washington University and author of the wonderful book “Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me About Who We Are”, will give a presentation on “Chimpanzee Gestural Language: Darwinian Realities vs. Cartesian Delusions—The Ethical Implications.” This presentation is also part of World Week for Animals in Labs and will be given at the HUB Auditorium on the University of Washington Campus. For more information about Mr. Fouts’ work with chimpanzees, go to www.friendsofwashoe.org.
Please urge March of Dimes to stop their continued cruel animal testing
Please tell the March of Dimes to stop funding cruel, unnecessary experiments on animals in the name of birth defect research. March of Dimes experimenters have sewn shut the eyes of newborn kittens, then killed them after they had endured a year of blindness; administered alcohol, nicotine, and cocaine to pregnant and newborn animals; and performed agonizing experiments on primates, ferrets, sheep, and other animals. There ARE other research options that don't involve hurting animals!
Please contact Jennifer Howse, President of the March of Dimes, and tell her politely that you will donate only to health charities that do not fund any animal experiments. You can reach Ms. Howse at Jhowse@modimes.org or 1-888-MODIMES (888-663-4637).
Also, please contact the director of your local March of Dimes chapter office and ask him or her to pressure the national office to change its animal experimentation policy. You can find out where your local MOD chapter is at www.marchofcrimes.com/wycdoffice.html.
In addition, the March of Dimes will hold its annual WalkAmerica fundraiser in Seattle on Saturday, April 26, 2003. Please join volunteers from AFA, NARN, and PETA early Saturday morning to pass out flyers to educate March of Dimes walkers about the cruel and unnecessary animal experiments their donations are funding. This will be a fairly short event lasting about one to one and a half hours and is a great way to directly educate participants and help deny funding for vivisectors (animal experimenters).
AFA is planning on leafleting starting at 7 a.m. at the main entrance to Seahawks Stadium. For more information about the event and how to help, please contact AFA at DaveB@afa-online.org For more information on the March of Dimes cruel animal experiments, please go to PETA’s March of Crimes website: www.marchofcrimes.org.
EPA targeted for its cruel and unnecessary animal tests
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal agency responsible for ensuring a clean, safe, and non-toxic environment for America. Far from protecting human health and the environment, the EPA has instead chosen to establish “acceptable” exposure levels to toxic chemicals through unreliable animal tests.
In more than 10 years, the EPA has not banned a single toxic industrial chemical using its authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Meanwhile, millions of animals have been killed in meaningless tests, the results of which have been used to derail efforts to limit chemical exposures. The EPA requires more chemical toxicity testing on animals than any other federal agency. Virtually none of its $600 million annual research budget is spent on the development of improved methods to replace cruel and inconclusive animal tests.
Please contact EPA head Christine Todd Whitman and ask politely that she stop the EPA from killing animals in cruel and wasteful experiments on chemicals that we already know are dangerous. Tell her that you want the EPA to start funding the development of non-animal tests that are faster, cheaper, and more relevant to humans. You can contact Christine Todd Whitman at Whitman.Christine@epamail.epa.gov or fax her at 202-501-1450.
Also, please tell your congressional representative and senators that you want the EPA to stop wasting your money on pointless animal tests and to devote a portion of its more than $600 million annual research budget to non-animal test development. You can find out who your senators and representatives are at www.senate.gov or www.house.gov. You can also call the Senate Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and the House Switchboard at 202-225-3121 to get this information.
Please thank Robotti & Co for dropping financial support of HLS
After hearing about the horrors taking place inside Huntington Life Sciences (HLS), a lab exposed in five undercover investigations for horrendous animal cruelty, terrible science, and outrageous worker conduct, Robotti and Company, Inc., has ceased acting as a market maker for the company. The Robotti representative specifically noted that this decision was made after learning what happens to the animals inside HLS. (For more information on HLS cruelties, visit www.shacamerica.net)
Please thank Robert E. Robotti, President and Managing Director of Robotti and Company, for dropping all financial support of HLS, at robottico@robotti.com or toll free at 888-ROBOTTI.
For information about companies that do and don’t test on animals, go to www.navs.org/testing/whois.cfm?SectionID=Testing.
Happy Easter! Good news for bunnies at the Miami airport
In a recent PAWS Actionline, we asked you to contact the Miami International Airport in opposition to their plan to have over 500 jackrabbits shot by USDA-Wildlife Services. The airport originally chose to hire USDA even though the Fund for Animals' sanctuary offered to trap and relocate the rabbits free of charge. We're happy to announce that the Miami Airport has since changed their decision in favor of relocating the rabbits, and have given local activists until the end of April to do so. Rabbits who are rounded up will be transported to the Fund for Animals' Black Beauty Ranch and other sanctuaries.
