Written by PETA
The following was first published on Animal Writes: PETA UK's Blog
Looks pretty good, doesn't it? Almost 100 PETA U.K. supporters took part in an eye-catching photo opportunity in London Saturday to demand that the government not adopt lower standards of protection for animals in laboratories when it incorporates the E.U.'s new directive regulating animal experiments later this year. If the government adopts the directive without changes, all animals will be affected. But dogs and cats in particular would become far more likely to be used in experiments because they would lose the special protections that Britain has given them for more than 25 years.
"Britons don't want more cats and dogs experimented on or more suffering for the millions of other animals used in laboratories. They want fewer animals used and less pain," said PETA U.K. policy adviser Alistair Currie. "We are calling on the public to send a clear message to the government that the citizens will not accept the laws that protect British animals to fall to the level of the EU's lowest common denominator."
A big thanks to all the fantastic PETA U.K. supporters who sent that message loud and clear.
What inspired the makers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which opens in theaters everywhere today, to create what MTV calls "perhaps the most expensive PSA against animal testing ever filmed"? The film's writers and producers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, told us in this exclusive interview about the real-life apes who convinced them that their story must be told:
How did your involvement with this movie come about?
Rick had clipped out news articles about chimps raised in human homes and wondered if there was a good story there for a movie. After staring at the articles for a while, he realized that he was looking at a reboot idea for "Planet of the Apes"! We took the idea to Fox and that was the beginning.
Were you aware of the various ways in which great apes are mistreated by humans before you started work on this script? Did you learn anything that really opened your eyes about this issue while doing your research for the film?
Before we started writing the script, we did a lot of research about great apes and chimpanzees in particular. And yes, we were absolutely horrified by the various ways in which great apes are mistreated by humans. As our story came together, it was informed by this information, which indeed helped us galvanize the entire plot.
As you were working on the script, were you concerned that the studio might elect to use live apes for the production? How did you handle that issue?
From the very beginning, we knew that live apes could never be used in the making of this movie—it would be going against one of the major themes of our story. Much to our relief, everyone was on board with this point of view—[Director] Rupert Wyatt, Peter Chernin, and Dylan Clark (our producing partners), as well as the executives at Fox.
Do you feel that technology has gotten to the point where Hollywood can now use computer-generated imagery (CGI) instead of wild animals on set?
We are extremely excited about the fact that technology is getting to the point where Hollywood can rely on CGI instead of real animals on sets. And this technology is quickly improving. It's only going to become more efficient and affordable over time.
What do you feel this film says about humankind's relationship with animals? What are you hoping that people may take away from this film?
Our central theme was always that man's hubris could lead to his downfall—that man should not play God. This obviously extends to his relationship with animals. James Franco's character—and his incredibly nuanced performance—underscores the notion that abuse can sometimes happen even with the best of intentions.
What projects are you working on next?
We've just turned in a film re-write for a big time-travel action movie at Sony. We're currently pitching television ideas that we're very excited about.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Now that a debt-ceiling compromise has been reached in Washington, Congress faces the task of slashing more than $1 trillion in spending over the next decade. So which government-funded programs should get the ax? PETA is suggesting cutting the $16 billion spent annually on animal experiments.
A good place to start would be the cruel "Mr. Potato Head" experiments on baby monkeys conducted by Kevin Grove at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, which have cost taxpayers more than $8 million, including an additional $94,000 in support from the Obama stimulus package. This Vivisector of the Month awardee spends his days terrorizing baby monkeys with things that scare them, such as Mr. Potato Head dolls, to see if babies of monkeys fed unhealthy, high-fat diets are more scared than those of monkeys who ate healthy diets. Hello--does anyone not know by now that junk food is bad for you?
You can see the ridiculous and cruel experiments for yourself in this never-before-seen video footage that PETA has obtained from ONPRC:
PETA has written to several key members of Congress, including those charged with appointing members to the super committee that will study where to make spending cuts, to suggest that the government could save billions every year by halting funding for these and other cruel and pointless experiments.
You can help by e-mailing your senators and representatives and asking them to spend your money on something other than tormenting animals.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
When you think of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), do you envision a group that pushes animal testing and endorses the Canadian seal slaughter and the shooting of elephants for sport? Chances are you don't, because the dirty secrets of the WWF are well-concealed behind a cuddly panda bear logo.
But German producer Wilfried Huismann is about to turn that "eco-façade" on its head. In his film Silence of the Pandas, he exposes what he dubs "the dark side" of the mammoth organization. WWF has become so large, says Huismann, by partnering with wealthy corporations that plaster its famous logo on their products as an endorsement in exchange for sizeable donations. Even while WWF purports to protect the environment, it promotes companies that are destroying it.
And we haven't even mentioned the animals WWF leaves in its wake. By pressuring government agencies to require even more animal tests, WWF's lobbying led to the establishment of what will be one of the largest animal-testing programs of all time. But what else would you expect from an organization founded by trophy hunters?
Like many people, I once was fooled by the warm and fuzzy commercials of pandas frolicking in the mist and made a donation to WWF. Now that I've learned what my money supported, the only green this meanie gets from me is when I throw its solicitations in my recycle bin.
You may want to start preparing some celebratory (non-animal tested) tea and (vegan) biscuits. The United Kingdom has taken a significant step toward ending tests of household products on animals. As a member of the E.U., Britain has already made it illegal to test cosmetics or their ingredients on animals, and now the government has made a commitment to ending household-product tests after consulting with companies, trade bodies, and animal protection organizations to come up with a working plan for ending the cruelty of animal testing.
In household-product tests, experimenters feed or inject animals with high doses of toxic chemicals or rub irritants into their skin. New testing methods will include laboratory-grown cultures and computer modeling.
British Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone said, "We believe it is possible to sell household products without inflicting pain and suffering on animals, and it is unacceptable that testing in this area continues."
While experiments of household products on animals might not be banned in other countries yet, they can be banned in your home. Choosing cruelty-free products gets animals one step closer to freedom from the laboratory.
Lackland Air Force Base in Texas is one of a tiny minority of facilities in the U.S. that still torments animals in outdated, cruel, and ineffective intubation training exercises for nurses and pediatric residents. Even though superior and sophisticated simulators that replicate human anatomy and physiology and that better prepare trainees to intubate children are widely used across the country, Lackland insists on abusing live ferrets instead. Trainees force hard plastic tubes down the ferrets' delicate windpipes as many as six times each session in a procedure that can cause bleeding, swelling, pain, scarring, collapsed lungs, and even death.
PETA, along with several military medical experts, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Army Medical Command and the Air Force surgeon general on the grounds that Lackland's animal intubation laboratory likely violates Joint Services Army Regulation 40-33, which requires that non-animal methods be used for training whenever they are available. More than 90 percent of U.S. pediatric residency programs like Lackland's—including those at other military facilities—use only modern infant simulators for intubation training.
Lackland's training methods show a lack of compassion for animals and provide doctors and nurses with inferior training. You can send a polite e-mail to Lackland's Brig. Gen. Leonard Patrick and ask him to end the use of animals for intubation training —for everyone's benefit.
U.K.-based Harlan Hillcrest Farm—a facility that bred thousands of beagles in deplorable conditions before selling them to be abused and killed in cruel experiments—is closing after being besieged by advocates for animals.
During their time at Harlan, dogs were confined to tiny wire mesh cages that were spray-washed just once a month. They were only allowed out of the cages for 20 minutes a week. A former animal technician at Harlan reported that workers wrote curse words on the beagles' faces, shaved pictures into their fur, and punched and kicked the dogs.
And the problems for Harlan don't end there: Last week, the company also announced that it was laying off more than 100 people at one of its Swiss facilities—which breeds and conducts cruel tests on mice, rats, rabbits, hamsters, dogs, and pigs—because business is hurting.
Bad news for Harlan is great news for animals.
While PETA and other animal organizations work to shut down laboratories and their animal suppliers one by one, you can help by buying cruelty-free products and letting companies that experiment on animals and that do business with companies like Harlan know why you won't be a customer.
The skies just got friendlier for primates of the nonhuman variety. American Airlines has publicly confirmed that it will no longer transport nonhuman primates to be used in experiments. In adding cruelty to its no-fly list, American Airlines joins British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Delta Air Lines, Air China, Monarch Air Group, Amerijet, IBC Airways, and several other airlines in refusing to transport primates to facilities where they will be tormented and killed in experiments.
You may also recall that Lufthansa airlines agreed last year to stop transporting dogs and cats to laboratories after a PETA action alert generated an enormous response from concerned people.
You can help stop laboratory abuse at its source by asking the federal government to divert funding from cruel experiments on animals to modern non-animal methods and human-based clinical research.
PETA and its international affiliates put their money where their mouths are—or, rather, put their donors' money where the animals' mouths are, to spare animals from being force-fed and otherwise poisoned with toxic chemicals in experiments. PETA and its affiliates have now provided more than $1 million to fund the development and implementation of non-animal research methods.
One recent recipient of a grant provided by PETA through the generous support of the McGrath Family Foundation is the International QSAR Foundation, which is developing sophisticated computer models that can replace the use of animals for carcinogenicity testing. In experiments to test the cancer-causing potential of a single chemical, more than 400 animals are forced to ingest chemicals for one to two years before they are killed.
PETA U.K. has also provided funds to support skin irritation testing methods that don't use animals. The PETA U.K.–funded method is now accepted for use internationally in place of painful tests on rabbits. PETA U.K. is now funding research to validate non-animal skin allergy tests, which are commonly performed on guinea pigs and mice to test cosmetics and other chemicals. This breakthrough is especially timely since beginning in 2013, cosmetics that have been tested on animals cannot be marketed in the European Union.
Tim Mitchell, president of CeeTox, Inc., says:
This donation is important because it puts PETA and its affiliates in a unique position of not only championing the need for new non-animal tests but also providing money to help make it happen. It sets a good example for others to follow ...
Even in these economic hard times, it is critical that we continue funding the development of non-animal testing methods as a sure-fire way to get animals out of laboratories. If you would like to contribute to this effort, you can target your donation here.
In his new movie Project Nim, which opens today in New York City and Chicago, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker James Marsh explores the tragic life of a chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky, and the people who exploited him for their own selfish ends.
Born in a laboratory in the 1970s, Nim was taught American Sign Language as part of a project to show that it could be done. But that was just the beginning of Nim's odyssey. He was shuffled between homes, kept segregated from his own species, often caged and tethered, and eventually dumped onto a series of laboratories. Animal rights advocates fought to have him retired to a sanctuary and, for those of you who plan to see the movie, here's a spoiler alert: They were ultimately successful.
While Nim did learn sign language, the truly important lesson that he taught us is that nonhuman primates, like all other animals, desire and deserve the same freedom that human primates enjoy and that depriving them of it is devastating. Why, 30 years later, have we still not learned that lesson?
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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