UPDATE: Victory! POM Promises to End Deadly Animal Tests. Check it.

The recent statement by POM Wonderful's owners Stewart and Lynda Resnick that "POM Wonderful pomegranate juice has ceased all animal testing and we have no plans to do so in the future" seems pretty great, until you read the fine print.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's website, POM made a commitment through June 2007 to an experiment that involves forcing elderly rats to balance on a spinning rod and find a hidden platform in a water maze in order to try not to drown. I'll get back to you on whether those experiments are still going forward, but so far, POM's not getting back to us about it, which is ominous—coming from a company that has professed a desire to get out of the whole sordid animal-testing game. And it's especially ominous when you take into account the fact that POM's president told a PETA rep last summer that his company could deceive the public by declaring itself "cruelty-free," while continuing to test on animals through an affiliate set up by the company's owners.

Why might a company that apparently sees nothing even faintly ridiculous about drowning rats to judge “The Effects of Pomegranate Juice on Cognitive and Motor Deficits in Aging” consider misleading consumers about whether it funds animal tests? My guess is that it has something to do with the fact that Whole Foods threatened to stop selling the juice if POM continued to kill animals in pointless experiments. Whatever the reason, if POM's intention is indeed to mislead customers who are making a good-faith effort to buy cruelty-free products, they can be certain that we're not going to just sit back and watch. PETA's campaign against POM Wonderful will continue until the company signs PETA’s assurance statement pledging an end to all animal tests—something that the company has refused to do so far. Go figure.

You can read PETA VP Bruce Friedrich's letter to POM here.
And for more information and ways to help, click here.

Pic from the show

At the end of her recent show in Chicago, longtime PETA supporter Joan Jett took the opportunity to read out a statement to the crowd attacking Ringling Bros. Circus for their shocking abuse of elephants. She also urged the crowd to come out in support of a new ordinance in Chicago that will make it impossible for Ringling and other abusive animal circuses to use their standard training techniques of beating elephants with bullhooks and electric shock prods. Here’s what Joan said to the crowd:

Joan Jett (for those of you who weren’t aware) is utterly amazing. Word has it that the crowd went absolutely nuts cheering and clapping after she made the statement. It was also, reportedly, a kickass show. Here's a little video to illustrate Joan's point.