Written by PETA
We have met the enemy and the enemy is … E.T.? At least, that's what astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says. He warns that extraterrestrials could be like … well, like humans, who never seem to have met an "alien" life form that they didn't want to capture, enslave, experiment on, or even eat alive.
Inspired by Hawking's warning, we're running this ad in Roswell, New Mexico—the location of the alleged and legendary ("allegendary"?) alien crash-landing and the setting of numerous X-Files episodes—as a reminder that being abducted by "superior beings" for experiments is real for animals in laboratories.
NASA space capsules reportedly read, "We Come in Peace," on the side, but as PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk has pointed out, judging by the way we treat the other beings with whom we share this planet, they should continue, "Unless You're Less Powerful Than We Are, in Which Case You're Lunch!" Here's hoping that E.T. does as Earthlings say, not as we do, and that we'll soon see the error of our ways.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Victory Update: Following a year of vigorous campaigning, PETA has learned that government officials have grounded plans for a cruel and ineffective radiation experiment on monkeys. Learn more about this victory for monkeys.
It's World Week for Animals in Laboratories—do you know where your tweets are? Hopefully, they will soon be winging their way to NASA, with 140 characters of outrage (politely worded, of course) at its absurd plan to spend $1.75 million to bombard up to 30 squirrel monkeys with radiation and then lock them up and watch their bodies and minds deteriorate (which, based on past radiation experiments, could include blindness, brain tumors, and other types of cancer).
After you've tweeted at NASA, head on over to Lori Garver's Facebook page (she's NASA's deputy administrator) to let her know where you weigh in on the "Save the Monkeys" debate. And don't forget to link to PETA's action alert on your home page.
Then pick up the phone and give Garver (202-358-1020) and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (202-358-1010) a call. Tell them you'd much prefer that your tax dollars be spent on modern, humane research methods that actually have some relevance to humans.
Finally, ask your congressional representative to use his or her influence to blast NASA's cruel, wasteful, and possibly illegal plan to another galaxy—preferably one with no life forms that the space agency can exploit.
Despite our petitions, demonstrations, tweets to astronauts in space, a letter from the U.S. Congress, and even compelling evidence that the project may have violated federal regulations, NASA has not halted its misguided plan to waste $1.75 million to torment monkeys in cruel and ineffective radiation experiments. With the window of opportunity to save the monkeys quickly closing, we're calling on you to take a few minutes of your time to call NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver at 202-358-1020 and very politely (the nicer you are when you call the better it is for monkeys) ask her to scrap the proposal to fund radiation experiments on monkeys and to direct these resources toward modern and humane methods instead.
I just got off the phone with Garver's secretary, who, while polite, seemed a little taken aback as she took down my message. Clearly, she hadn't planned on starting her day by taking notes about how NASA needs to stop its plans to zap monkeys with a massive dose of radiation and then condemn them to years of experiments in order to assess how the radiation devastates their brains and bodies.
After you call, send a quick follow-up message to NASA officials, urge everyone you know to do the same, and tell us about your experience phoning NASA. Come on—it's OK to call and tell!
Written by Logan Scherer
Shari—an enthusiastic PETA supporter—chatted up tons of rodeo attendees in her community last week about the abuse of animals used in rodeos, in which human performers use electric prods, spurs, and bucking straps to irritate and enrage bulls, horses, and other unwilling "costars" into participating in the show.
Shari's dedication to speaking out for animals is unrivaled. Last year, she participated in the International Day of Protest for elephants at the San Antonio Zoo and held her own anti-Ringling demonstration. She also demonstrated as a caged monkey outside NASA headquarters in Houston and then drove back to San Antonio to step into a human meat tray the next day. And that's only a sampling of her tireless efforts to save lives.
Ready to take action yourself? Get started today!
Blasting as many as 30 monkeys with radiation and then imprisoning them for the rest of their lives in tiny steel cages in order to assess how the radiation damages their bodies is wrong on too many levels to count. And it also appears to violate NASA's own guidelines—and federal regulations too.
According to new information obtained by PETA through the Freedom of Information Act, NASA appears to have violated its own grant guidelines and the Code of Federal Regulations by approving the outlay of nearly $2 million in taxpayer money on this cruel and wasteful experiment before they had even been evaluated for scientific validity by one of the facilities where they would be taking place and even though the lead experimenter had missed crucial deadlines for receiving approval for the project.
NASA's guidelines state that grant applications that don't meet the relevant requirements will be "declared noncompliant and declined without review," so PETA has filed a complaint with NASA calling for an immediate investigation and asking for the misguided project to be disqualified from receiving even one penny of our tax dollars.
Join us in stopping this abuse of monkeys before it happens by urging Congress to end the barbaric plan.
While the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and privacy advocates play hot potahto over proposed full-body scans at airport security checkpoints, we at PETA say, "Bring 'em on." Pourquoi? Well, several reasons, really:
Metal underwear! That's right: Coming soon to security checkpoints everywhere, TSA employees will get an eyeful of our message to NASA as caring individuals educate TSA employees about NASA's plans to blast as many as 30 monkeys with one huge dose of radiation. The agency will then imprison the animals by themselves in tiny steel cages and subject them to years of tests in order to assess how the radiation damages their brains and bodies. Unlike the rays emitted by airport body scans, this extreme radiation may cause brain tumors and other types of cancer.
Officials at the TSA have already been alerted that PETA's metal underwear is on the way. But we are wondering—will you expose TSA employees to the truth about NASA's experiments on your next flight?
Written by Karin Bennett
Shouldn't every day be "Bring Your Daughter to the Demo" Day?
This adorable girl joined other proud PETA supporters outside Johnson Space Center in Houston yesterday to urge NASA to ground its misguided plans to torment monkeys in cruel and ineffective radiation experiments. They educated tons of passersby about the more than two dozen monkeys who will be zapped with a large dose of radiation in NASA's crude experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York. After the experiment, the monkeys will be shipped off to Harvard's McLean Hospital and forced into years of experiments to assess how the radiation deteriorates their brains and wreaks havoc on their bodies.
Facebook posts speaking out against the cruel experiment have flooded NASA's page—to the point that NASA created a new discussion board solely dedicated to this issue. And we're tweeting at astronauts on the International Space Station (retweet, anyone?) asking them to take action:
@Astro_TJ Pls tell @NASA 2 #savethemonkeys from cruel & ineffective radiation experiments & replace 'em w/ humane/modern research methds!
Join the thousands of people signing PETA's Twitter petition and urging Congress to halt NASA's cruel plan.
A few weeks ago, we were thrilled to report that Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) agreed to stop using homeless cats obtained from Odessa Animal Control in deadly medical training exercises, but we weren't sure whether or not Texas Tech had abandoned the practice of shoving plastic tubes down the throats of cats altogether. Well, now it's official: News reports confirm that TTUHSC will no longer use cats for this training! I'm sure our rejected newspaper ads and celebrity support played a big part in securing this towering triumph, but the victory really belongs to the more than 30,000 (!) compassionate people who took action against TTUHSC.
With 2010 fast approaching, we've got a lot to celebrate, but there are still countless animals who are being tortured and killed in experiments. Let's start the New Year by riding on the wave of our TTUHSC success and bringing the same support to the more than two dozen monkeys whom NASA intends to torture by exposing them to massive doses of dangerous radiation. Urge NASA to cancel its cruel plans and instead direct its funds to humane methods of scientific inquiry. Here's to starting 2010 with another victory!
It was a cagey scene outside NASA headquarters in D.C. yesterday when our primates urged NASA to scrap its misguided $1.75 million plan to torment monkeys in radiation experiments. The demonstration was out-of-this-world spectacular, prompting NASA employees to approach our volunteers for some dynamic discussions. No one could walk by these guys without stopping to have a second look:
The more than two dozen monkeys in NASA's crude experiment will be zapped with a massive dose of radiation at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York, and then spend the rest of their lives condemned to a laboratory at Harvard's McLean Hospital where they'll be enlisted in a never-ending series of experiments to assess how the radiation devastates their brains and bodies. NASA has admitted that the radiation is "going to cause some cellular damage." What they really mean is that the monkeys may likely suffer from brain damage, cancer and premature aging.
It goes without saying that you should urge NASA to abandon these abhorrent experiments ASAP.
You may remember that years back, PETA was instrumental in getting NASA out of the monkey business when we successfully pushed the agency to cancel plans to launch straightjacketed, electrode-implanted monkeys into space. So, as you can imagine, we leapt to attention when we learned recently that the mad scientists at NASA want to blast up to 28 squirrel monkeys with a massive dose of gamma rays in order to "simulate" the space radiation they would be exposed to if they were humans on a three-year mission to Mars (which they aren't, but apparently NASA isn't one to quibble over details).
The monkeys will then spend the rest of their lives being forced to perform a host of "behavioral tasks" to assess how the radiation affected their brains. Although NASA has repeatedly told the media that these monkeys won't be killed, they left out the teensy detail that earlier radiation experiments NASA has conducted on monkeys have caused the animals to suffer from fatal cancers, including brain tumors.
We asked NASA to halt these cruel and pointless experiments in a letter we sent to the agency this week. No answer yet, but in the meantime, please let NASA know how you feel about its plans to experiment on monkeys.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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