Everything you do counts...  

WARNING!!!!!!! THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT AT HEART.

For too many years to count animals have been used to test out products and medications for the sake of humanity. Far are the days that humans were used to run tests. We decided to use animals instead. Now, I for one do not agree with the atrocities that humans underwent in the name of science, but I do not think that it is fair that we use animals in the same way, even today. But how much of this testing is really for medication and cures for illnesses and disease?

Well, according to Inside HLS, not too much. Apparently Huntingdon Life Sciences thinks it is acceptable to line their pockets with blood money for the sake of making progress, but in reality they are not testing on animals to save humans from disease or help find medications that can help fight off conditions, they are testing on anything that comes their way - most of which are diet pills, impotency medication, food products and cleaning supplies - all things that are not in my opinion worth the cost of the many animal lives that have been taken.

According to Inside HLS, more than 9 million lives have been snuffed out in the name of research. But how many life-saving medical breakthroughs have Huntingdon been responsible for? The sad fact is the many lives lost were due to testing on such things as the toxicity testing of chemicals (like floor coverings), pesticides (like Monsanto's weed-killer that poisons our food supply), pharmaceuticals (like diet-drugs), food additives (caramel food coloring is one of many), and dreaded genetically modified foods. HLS is putting products onto the market that cause cancer, cause high-blood pressure and heart disease, cause people adverse reactions when taking these drugs, and destroy our earth and its creatures.



For those that are brave enough to read below, here is an article from www.insidehls.com:

A Splenda Way to Die!

In a time when obesity has seen a dramatic increase, diabetes is plaguing more and more children, and doctors are warning people to cut down on their sugars, sugar giant Tate and Lyle, with the aid of McNeil Specialty Products (a division of Johnson and Johnson) came up with a sweetener 600 times more potent than real sugar! Now where do you think you go to test "safe" a product as "important" Sucralose (also called Splenda in the US) – Huntingdon Life Sciences, of course.

Huntingdon played a big role in the testing that took place to bring this garbage product to the market. An estimated 12,800 animals died in the process according to a published report in a recent scientific journal.

Some of the more gruesome details revealed:

• 32 beagle dogs were locked in metal cages for 52 weeks. They were given Sucralose mixed in with their normal feed, and blood and urine samples were collected. At the end of the study they were killed by means of exsanguiation - they had their throats slit open and bled to death. They were then cut open and their organs - by now drained of blood so easier to dissect - were examined to test the product's toxicity levels.
• Four beagle puppies (or as HLS calls them – punching bags) were starved before being force-fed the super-sweet sugar powder. HLS employees then took blood samples from the jugulars of the infant dogs.
• An unspecified number of marmoset monkeys either died from the poisoning or were killed at the termination of the research at HLS.
• The report states that 12 of these monkeys, which were babies – under 10 months old – were force-fed Sucralose for seven weeks. Two of the primates died on the seventh day from brain defects, another primate was mysteriously killed after four weeks, and the remainder all were murdered at the completion of the seventh week. Some of the recorded observations from this study noted "in appetence, body weight loss, unwillingness to use hind leg, hopping, involuntary grip reflexes, salivation and subdued mood."
• Huntingdon also used rabbits to study the effects of the product. These little animals were given 1200 times the expected daily intake and not surprisingly most died from the trauma. Many of the other rabbits suffered from convulsions, weight loss, and various intestinal disorders.
• Huntingdon also tested the product on pregnant rabbits, mice, and rats – killing both the mothers and the fetuses.

All in all, just another customer-sponsored project at HLS. All this pain and death for the sake of bringing to the market a sweetener that can make your ice-cream or jam 600 times sweeter. This sort of testing really should give you pause to think, and possibly send off a thank you note to HLS for all the important contributions they are making to the world.


How many animals does HLS use?

HLS kills approximately 180,000 animals every year, or 500 per day. Average numbers of specific animals are as follows (yearly):
Dogs (2600);
Cats (400);
Rodents (132,894);
Rabbits (5106);
Fish (10,300);
Birds (7800);
Primates (1700);
other animals (19200).

These figures were obtained by averaging out the number of animals listed in USDA reports and other published reports from other overseers and government regulatory agents, over the past few years.

It is estimated that, at any one time, there are 70,000 animals imprisoned at HLS waiting to die.

What laws exist to protect laboratory animals?

Laws protecting "laboratory animals" are very limited in the U.S. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the most commonly cited legal protection given to animals in labs. However, the AWA is not an provision designed specifically for "lab animals." It is designed to provide (minimal) protection for all animals, as defined by the Act as, "…any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman primate mammal), guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded animal, as the Secretary may determine is being used, or is intended for use, for research, testing, experimentation, or exhibition purposes or as a pet; but such term excludes horses not used for research purposes and other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber. With respect to a dog the term means all dogs including those used for hunting, security, or breeding purposes."

Additionally, the AWA merely regulates adequate food, water, housing, exercise, and veterinary care; it places no restrictions whatsoever on what can be done to animals during actual experiments. The following provision ensures this: "Nothing in these rules, regulations, or standards shall affect or interfere with the design, outline, or performance of actual research or experimentation by a research facility as determined by such research facility."

Furthermore, under the Animal Welfare Act rats, mice, birds, fish, and farm animals (which comprise 85-90% of the animals used in "research" are not considered animals and hence are not afforded even the minimal protection of the AWA.

How can I be sure that I'm not supporting HLS? What products can I boycott?

Because HLS is a CRO, any company can hire HLS to test its products, and HLS's customers have included some of the largest pharmaceutical, chemical, and cosmetic companies in the world. The only way to ensure that you are not using products that were tested at HLS is to boycott all companies that test on animals. You can get a list of companies that do not test on animals by contacting:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) offers a regularly updated, wallet sized shopping guide to companies and products that are not tested on animals. Contact them at: PeTA, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA, 23510, 757.622.PETA http://www.peta.org/
SHAC USA is not affiliated in any way with PeTA

By boycotting companies that test on animals, you not only ensure that your money is not going to HLS, but also that your dollars are not being used by *any* company to experiment on animals.

UPDATE: New petitions have been created to hopefully convince a shut down of Huntingdon Life Sciences facilities (looks like at least in the UK).

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/shut-down-huntingdon-life-sciences=

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/close-huntingdon-life-sciences.html


Source: www.insidehls.com

Did you know that humans are hunting down their closest animal relatives and selling them for meat?

What's more, orphaned chimpanzee babies are typically sold in local markets and often end up in the pet trade after watching their mothers being brutally killed.

Tell Congress to discourage illegal bushmeat trafficking.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/533495552/sign?z00m=10124086

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This is terrible and must be stopped. What has this world come to in slaughtering innocent animals that should not be consumed. It is bad enough that we have to eat meat (or chose to) but for something as intelligent as a chimpanzee dying to fill someone's belly is atrocious. Please stop this from occurring. We need to come together and protect animals, not eat them!!! This is pure greed and should be stopped.

Show support for the process of adopting greyhounds when they retire and voice our objections to their needless slaughter.

FACT: Greyhound racing is not a regulated sport in that when greyhounds retire, the owners are free to do whatever they want with them.

FACT: The greyhound life expectancy is lower than any other breed, and not as a result of natural causes.

FACT: In the UK alone, 40,000 greyhounds are needlessly slaughtered every year.

FACT: These practices occur in Australia, Sweden, the USA, the UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Ireland, Spain, China and countless other countries aroud the world.

FACT: Puppies that are not good enough to race are mindlessly slaughtered before their first birthday.

Greyhound racing is carried out for the entertainment of millions all over the world. We marvel at the beautiful and yet powerful creatures when they race around a track, and yet they apparently have no real value to us.

We as a race should be looking after their welfare when they retire, as we do the elderly members amongst us. After retirement age, people tend to live quiet and happy lives, watching their families grow up and expand, but that is not the case with greyhounds.

When they have fulfilled their apparent duty, we dispose of them as if they were no more than household rubbish.

In others words, when they are no longer useful and cannot do something for us, we brutally slaughter them. At age four or five, many greyhounds are dead and the blood is on our hands.

After all, would you brutally murder your relatives when they pass retirement age and can no longer earn money?

No? Didn't think so, so why are we allowing this inhumane and unbelievably cruel practice to continue?

It is time to stop this mindless violence and give one of the most gentle and loving breeds on Earth a chance to live.

The aims of this cause are to highlight the plight of greyounds and encourage people to take them in as household pets.

We also want to join the fight to make the global voice heard so that the greyhound industry has no other choice but to regulate its practices.

This petition will be sent to various governments around the world as well as sporting bodies in March 2008, so please add your signature today.

TAKE ACTION NOW!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-greyhound-slaughter

Each year, thousands of animals die in Procter & Gamble laboratories -- the victims of painful, archaic and entirely unnecessary product tests. Caustic chemicals are forced into the eyes of rabbits and applied to animals' shaved and raw skin.

Laboratory workers place the animals in restraining devices so they cannot struggle while the workers apply the chemicals, which burn into the animals' eyes and skin. P&G "scientists" do not sedate the animals or give them pain killers.

Animals sometimes break their necks or backs attempting to escape the pain. Those that survive are used in yet additional painful tests ... until they are finally killed. The victims include rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets and other animals.

P&G refuses to stop testing its products on animals, despite the fact that these tests are not required by any law, and despite the fact that more reliable and humane alternatives do exist.

Procter & Gamble spends millions of dollars to package itself as a responsible, caring company, and claims to be a leader in the development of alternatives to the use of animals in product testing.

But P&G refuses to put its money where its mouth is. In 2004 alone, P&G spent $3 billion on advertising. This stands in stark contrast to the $64 million that P&G claims to have spent on developing alternatives over a 14-year period!

Despite its repeated P.R. claims about being in the forefront of developing alternatives and reducing product testing on animals, P&G's priorities seem clear: in less than 5 days, P&G spends more on advertising than it claims to have spent in 14 years on alternatives to painful and lethal animal tests.

The fact is, P&G says one thing and does another. If they truly shared our goal of eliminating animal cruelty, P&G would not have lobbied to defeat a bill before the California legislature that would have banned the infamous Draize eye-irritancy test.

In reality, P&G relies on these archaic tests strictly for its own protection from liability lawsuits. The truth is that P&G could stop animal testing today without hindering anyone's safety. Until it stops its animal cruelty, the letters P&G will stand for nothing but Pain & Greed!

BOYCOTT THESE ITEMS:

Companion Animal Care: Eukanuba, IAMS (see IAMSKills.com for more details)

Cosmetics: Cover Girl, Max Factor, Oil of Olay

Deodorants: Old Spice, Secret, Sure

Diapers and Baby Care: Luvs, Pampers

Food and Beverage: Folgers, Millstone Coffee, Pringles, Sunny Delight, Torengos

Fragrances: Giorgio of Beverly Hills, Helmut Lang, Herve Leger, Hugo Boss, Old Spice

Hair Care: A Touch of Sun, Aussie, Balsam Color, Clairol, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Hydrience, Infusium 23, Lasting Color, Loving Care, Men's Choice, Natural Instincts, Nice 'n Easy, Pantene, Pert Plus, Physique, Ultress, Vidal Sassoon

Laundry and Cleaning: Bounce, Cascade, Cheer, Comet, Dawn, Downy, Dreft, Dryel, Era, Febreze, Gain, Ivory, Ivory Snow, Joy, Mr. Clean, Swiffer, Tide

Non-Prescription Drugs/Health Aids: DayQuil, Metamucil, NyQuil, Pepto-Bismol, PUR water filtration system, Sinex, Thermacare, Vicks

Oral Care: Crest, Fixodent, Gleem, Scope, Whitestrips

Paper Products: Bounty, Charmin, Puffs

Skin Care: Clearstick, Cover Girl, Max Factor, Noxzema Ohm, Olay

Soap: Camay, Ivory, Safeguard, Zest

WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY!

1. Buy only cruelty-free products. Get in the habit of checking the backs of product labels to find out what company makes the product you are buying and look for statements that the product was not tested on animals. Use our free cruelty-free list to find out which companies do not test on animals, and buy only products from companies on that list. Encourage your friends and family members to do the same.

2. Become a P&G Coordinator today! Start by joining the P&G boycott. Refuse to buy P&G products. Help spread the word to others. Circulate educational brochures, available through IDA, to your family, friends, co-workers and others in your community. View the latest brochures and bumper stickers here. Contact IDA for copies to distribute.

3. Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers and weekly newspapers. Find a listing of all U.S. newspapers at: www.usnpl.com. Make sure to let us know if your letter gets printed. Below is a sample, though using your own words is strongly encouraged. For tips on effective letter-writing, visit: http://www.idausa.org/ir/activist/makenews.html10.

4. Please write to Procter & Gamble CEO, A.G. Lafley, and let him know that until P&G ends all testing, you will boycott their products.

A.G. Lafley
Chairman of the Board and CEO
Procter & Gamble
1 Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
1-800-543-1745
513-983-9369 (fax)
www.PG.com

Use P&G's online comment form.

5. Encourage students to ask their school cafeterias to no longer sell Procter & Gamble products, such as Pringles or Sunny Delight, and to use only cruelty-free cleaning products. Creating a petition for students to sign is a great approach.

6. Call and write any companies that currently test products on animals. Let them know you will not purchase their products until they adopt corporate policies against animal testing. Most companies have toll-free 800 numbers that you can call at the company's expense!

7. Write to your congressional representatives and ask them to support any legislation that would discourage companies from using animals for safety tests or that calls for alternatives to animal testing. Visit our online action center to look up your representatives at http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/home.html.

Source: http://www.pandgkills.com

Best Friends Betrayed
http://www.iamskills.com/the_horrors.shtml

Iams/Eukanuba has been using dogs and cats in highly invasive experiments that subjected them to major surgeries and implanted them with tubes and other apparatus throughout their bodies. All of the experiments described below have been published in recent journals of veterinary research, most within the past three years.

One cruel experiment to study the effect of extreme weight fluctuations on the liver forced 24 cats to become obese by feeding them a high-calorie diet immediately after being spayed. Once obese, these cats were then starved for 7 to 8 weeks on a diet containing only 25% of the calories needed for maintenance, in order to induce drastic weight loss. The rapid, extreme weight loss forced 3 of the cats to develop hepatic lipidosis, a devastating disease that is difficult to treat and often fatal. No mention is made about the ultimate fate of the surviving cats. (1)

In another study to look at diet and allergies, 14 newborn puppies were manipulated with injections to develop allergens to various food ingredients. When the dogs were later placed on diets containing the allergen, they lost weight, developed moderate to severe diarrhea, hair loss and itching. Twice during the experiment, the dogs had solutions of the allergy- causing ingredient injected into the lining of the stomach while under anesthesia. These dogs will remain allergic for the rest of their lives. (2)

One cruel experiment to study the effect of extreme weight fluctuations on the liver forced cats to become obese by feeding them a high-calorie diet immediately after being spayed. Upon becoming obese, the same cats were then starved for 7 to 8 weeks on a diet containing only 25% of the required calories in order to induce drastic weight loss. The extreme weight fluctuations forced the cats to undergo hepatic lipidosis, a devastating disease that is not easily cured. No mention is made about the ultimate fate of these cats. (3)

A 1998 experiment sponsored by Iams killed 18 young Great Danes to study the effect of diet on bone density. The dogs had been placed on diets with varying amounts of calcium and phosphorus and were later killed so that their bones could be removed and analyzed. (4)

To study fiber in the diet, cats were subjected to surgeries that opened their abdominal cavities and flushed out the contents of the intestines. At the end of the experiment, all 28 cats used in the study had the entire large intestine removed. The study does not state the final fate of these cats. (5)

In fact, most of these experiments do not address what happens to the animals after the experiments. Animals with complex medical problems, missing large sections of their intestines, or forced to develop chronic allergies, are all manipulated to endure a life of disability and suffering.


References

[1] Ibriham, WH, Szabo, J, Sunvold, GD, et al, Effect of dietary protein quality and fatty acid composition on plasma lipoprotein concentrations and hepatic triglyceride fatty acid synthesis in obese cats undergoing rapid weight loss, Amer J Vet Res 2000; 6(5):556-572.

[2] Hayek, M.G., Hypersensitivity reactions to dietary antigens in atopic dogs. Proceedings of 2000 Iams Nutrition Symposium

[3] Ibriham, Szabo, Sunvold, Kelleher, Bruckner, "Effect of dietary protein quality and fatty acid composition on plasma lipoprotein concentrations and hepatic triglyceride fatty acid synthesis in obese cats undergoing rapid weight loss," AJVR, Vol. 61, Iams)5:556-572 (2000)

[4] Crenshaw, Budde, Lauten, Lepine, Nutritional Effects on Bone Strength in the Growing Canine, 1998 Iams Nutrition Symposium.

[5] Bueno, Cappel, Sunvold, Reinhart, Clemen, "Feline Colonic Morphology and Mucosal Tissue Energetics as Influenced via Sources of Dietary Fiber," Nutrition Research, Vol. 20, 7:985-993 (2000).

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Iams doesn't claim not to test and admit to doing blood and tissue testing, testing urine and feces, and keeping animals caged in labs for testing their foods and the ingredients used in them. Iams is owned by Proctor & Gamble, one of the most unrepentant testers in the world -- they're responsible for torturing millions of creatures to test their household products -- so it's no wonder that Iams considers testing on animals to be their right. We hope you don't agree that life in a cage enduring needles and surgical procedures to be any kind of life for a dog or cat. Please consider boycotting all Iams and Eukanuba products -- it's important that we let these companies know that any alleged "benefits" to people or companion animals is not justified by the suffering endured by the animals in their labs. It's a new mind-set for many people, to realize that animals are not here for our use, no matter how lofty one's motives for using the animals might be.

As for hepatic lipodosis (fatty liver disease), my cat Max had that happen to him because he stopped eating a brand name pet food (thankfully my cats hate Iams, so I don't buy it). He was very overweight (26 lbs) and when he started losing weight we were at first happy because we had tried for years to get it under control. Little did we know that there was such a thing as fatty liver disease until one day he was really lethargic and was actually developing jaundice. It was a pure struggle to get him back to health and he's never been 100% healthy from that ordeal. To know that Iams puts animals through that sort of torture and hell just for the sake of finding out that obese cats can develop that disease by not eating is just terrible (duh, you don't eat and all sorts of things can happen, but do we really want to find out on purpose???). I feel for these animals, as well as all the others that are tested without mercy for the sake of human kind. Animals are not put on this earth for human pleasure or labor or worse. They are presents from God and should be treated as such.

Protect Downed Animals by Supporting the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act!
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2147

Demand Truth in Labeling—Support the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2167

Keep Pets Out of Labs—Support the Federal Pet Safety and Protection Act
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2157

Protect Public Health! Help Limit the Use of Antibiotics in Food Animals
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2191

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act Reintroduced in Congress
https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2061