Which Charities Are Naughty and Nice

Does the holiday spirit put you in a generous mood? Before you write a check to a health charity, check the list of charities that do and that don’t fund cruel animal experiments.

Grinches That Steal Animals’ Lives

Many huge health charities—including the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the March of Dimes, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Lung Association—actually take millions of lives. They waste precious dollars on cruel, irrelevant experiments on dogs, rats, cats, mice, primates, pigs, sheep, and other animals instead of spending them on promising human-based programs.

All animals, including humans, feel pain, fear, sadness, joy, love, and other emotions, but physiologically, there are vast differences between species. Data from one species cannot be correctly applied to another. Different species of animals vary enormously in their reactions to toxins and diseases as well as with regard to how they metabolize drugs. Consequently, dependence on animal “models” to address human diseases has been misleading, unnecessary, and dangerous.

Every dollar that charities spend on animal research is a dollar that could have been better spent on humane, relevant, effective programs to help people with diseases or disabilities.

It’s a Wonderful Life-Saving Charity

Animal-friendly philanthropists can give to deserving charities that directly help people without hurting animals, such as Easter Seals, Helen Keller International and the Children’s Burn Foundation, and charities that use only sophisticated non-animal research methods, such as the Avon Foundation for Women, Birth Defect Research for Children, Children’s Oncology Group, Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, Gateway for Cancer Research, Organization for Autism Research, Spina Bifida Association of America, and others.