March 9, 2001

Dear ___________:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world. We have 700,000 members who are concerned about the protection of animals and the environment. We are writing to ascertain your organization’s position on an issue of critical importance to the animal protection community—the use of large numbers of animals in chemical-testing programs initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

You may be aware that PETA led a coalition of animal protection organizations that opposed the EPA’s high production volume (HPV) chemical testing program announced in late 1998. That coalition consisted of almost every national animal protection organization in the U.S. and represented more than 10 million Americans. As you will see from the enclosed issue paper, the animal protection community has serious concerns about the EPA’s current approach to risk assessment, which (1) subjects enormous numbers of animals to painful toxicity tests, (2) is based on test methods that are of dubious scientific validity, and (3) does not result in concrete protections for human health or the environment. We believe that our organizations have a number of areas of mutual interest on these issues, not the least of which is the goal of properly labeling and informing the public about hazardous substances and ultimately removing toxic substances from the environment.

Many PETA members are also members of various environmental organizations and we routinely receive inquiries regarding the position that other organizations take on animal testing in general and EPA animal-testing programs in particular. So that we may better inform our members—as well as members of other animal protection organizations—regarding your organization’s position on these matters, we would greatly appreciate it if you would send us a copy of your organization’s policy on animal testing. In addition, we ask that you consider the attached issue paper and either endorse or reject the attached statement on validation of test methods and funding of non-animal test development.

Should you wish to discuss these matters further, please feel free to contact me or our federal agency liaison, Jessica Sandler. I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.

Yours truly,


Ingrid E. Newkirk
President