Dear Editor/Writer/Reporter,

The Bank of New York holds 62 million shares in Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), Europe's Largest Animal Laboratory. Huntingdon Life Sciences specializes in testing pesticides, genetically modified organisms, herbicides, and various other dangerous chemicals on animals. Please click : http://www.bankofnykills.com  (Please see Reference # 1A )

In the typical modern animal experiments, for example :the monkeys have been transplanted with genetically-engineered piglet hearts and kidneys: The horrific torturing and killing of the pigs and primates can be seen from the following websites :( http://www.xenodiaries.org/ http://www.uncaged.co.uk The recorded documents of list of agonies is truly horrifying and endless . (See Reference # 1B )

The typical lethal dose (or LD) test measures the amount of a toxic substance that will, in a single dose, kill a certain percentage of animals in a test group. "To avoid interference with results"  No painkillers are administered. Each year, millions of dogs, rabbits, rats, monkeys, and other animals die in lethal dose tests performed in
U.S. During the lethal dose test, the experimental substance is forced into the animal's throats or is pumped into their stomachs by a tube, sometimes causing death by stomach rupture or from the sheer bulk of the chemical dosage. Substance also are injected under the skin, into a vein, or into the peritoneal lining of the abdomen. They are also often applied to the eyes, rectum, or vagina, or forcible inhaled through a gas mask. (please See reference # 2 )

Animal modeled biomedical research harms humans by yielding results that cannot be extrapolated from animals to humans.  It diverts research dollars that could be going to proven methods of curing disease and is used to justify the introduction of unsafe medications.

Most people believe that experiments on animals are necessary, But they are NOT. The medical research establishment, pharmaceutical companies, other industries and a sizable public relations machine keep this belief alive. Why? Because lab animal study safeguards industry against legal responsibility and is hugely profitable, from a financial point of view only.

Animal experimentation continually falls short of providing the rigorous criteria that define real science - accuracy, predictability and applicability. Applying animal data to humans meets none of these requirements consistently. Why submit another species to pseudo-scientific exploration of human disease when human-based methods are available?

By contrast, there exist many rewarding human-based methodologies, some time-honored and some new, that provide accurate, usable information about our diseases and their cures. These methodologies do not require the guesswork that accompanies extrapolations from animal-data to humans. They do not "replace" animal experimentation per se. Animal experimentation does not reliably lead to cures for human disease so it needs to be "replaced" with something that does. The methodologies listed below are required to overcome animal experimentation's enormous inadequacy and dangers.

The following truly scientific methods are accurate, predictive and applicable. It is human health that is at risk and human wellness that is our objective. And none of these methods, though human-based, imposes risks on humans.

Scientific innovation would get a big boost if animal experimentation ceased. These more rewarding techniques would gather strength under augmented effort and increased funding. It is entirely likely that we would then find cures for today's most challenging illnesses.

It is not precise to call these human-based techniques "alternatives to animal experimentation." Mistakenly, that term infers that past medical achievements necessarily relied on lab animals. A true reading of medicine's history reveals our past and present reliance on non-animal methods. (Please see References # 3 )

Many people had asked:
"DIDN'T PENICILLIN COME FROM ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION?"

The fact is that animal tests sidetracked development of this important drug. In 1929, Alexander Fleming observed penicillin killing bacteria in a Petri dish. Intrigued, he administered the compound to bacteria-infected rabbits, hoping that it would do the same thing.  Unfortunately, penicillin was ineffective against the rabbit's infection. (We now know that because rabbits rapidly excrete penicillin in their urine, the drug is not able to work prior to being eliminated.)  Disappointed, Fleming set the drug aside for a decade, as the rabbits had "proved" the drug was useless as a systemic medication. Years later, he thought of the drug when he had a patient near death, for whomall other treatments had proved ineffectual. In desperation, he reached for the penicillin and performed a miracle. The rest is history. Fleming attributed his discovery to serendipity.

Fleming might have thrown penicillin away had he done his initial tests on guinea pigs or hamsters, since it kills those species. Fleming later told his students:

"How fortunate we didn't have these animal tests in the 1940s, for penicillin would probably never been granted a license, and possibly the whole field of antibiotics might never have been realized." (Please see Reference # 4 )

Many people also asked :
DIDN'T THE POLIO VACCINE COME FROM ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION?
Dr. Albert Sabin recalled the folly of the monkey models for polio: "Paralytic polio could be dealt with only by preventing the irreversible destruction of the large number of motor nerve cells, and the work on prevention was long delayed by the erroneous conception of the nature of the human disease based on misleading experimental models of the disease in monkeys. "(Please see Reference # 4 )

Then you may ask :
":IF WE DON'T USE ANIMALS, WHAT WILL WE USE ? "
This view assumes that animal experiments have been responsible for medical advances in the past. If this were true, the concern would be valid. But it is not. Benchmarks in medical history have relied on the following non-animal-based methodologies, as will future developments :

In vitro research or test tube research on living tissue .
Epidemiology .
Bacteria, viruses, and fungi reveal basic cell properties.
Autopsy and cadavers .
Physical models .
Genetic research .
Clinical research.
Post-marketing drug surveillance (PMDS).
Mathematical and computer modeling.
Modern technology is largely responsible for the high standard of care we receive
     today.
Specialization also saves countless lives.
(see Reference # 4 for all the detail explanation . )

The National Cancer Institute also undertook a twenty-five-year screening program, testing 40,000 plant species on animals for anti-tumor activity. Out of this very expensive research many positive results surfaced in animal models, but not a single anti-tumor drugemerged for humans. As a consequence, the NCI now uses human cancer cells for cytotoxic screening.

As Dr. Richard Klausner, the director of the National Cancer Institute itself said :                                       "The history of cancer research has been a history of curing cancer in the mouse...We have cured mice of cancer for decades--and it simply didn't work in humans. "  (see Reference # 4 )

Many medical professionals endorse lab animal research, as amatter of principle rather than informed conviction. With busy specialized careers and only thin information to the contrary, few physicians are willing to shoulder the burden of publicly dissenting with their peers. This dissent requires too much research and too much risk. However, if consulted privately, they will admit that they study human data, not animal data to determine how best to treat their patients. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and The Medical Research Modernization Committee are twophysician-based organizations that agree with experiments on animals do not lead to cures for human disease. (See Reference # 5 )
                                                                                                                continued back to previous page

Animal experimentation continues because it is highly PROFITABLE.