You have the opportunity to do something against the cruelty of animal testing.

Tomorrow, Saturday August 11, 2-4 pm, you can join to the public protest to educate the public about the unreliability of animal testing. The event is organized by the Massachussets Animal Rights Coalition.

The protest will take place at the Boston Common. Meet and gather at Brewer’s Fountain, near the Park Street T station, Boston Common, Boston, MA.

A friend of us, who is a member of MARC, alerted us about the protest. Below is some important information provided by MARC.

“Whenever we speak to the general public about animal testing, folks are amazed that it is still going on. Help us let the public know the awful truth of animal testing. Our signs and literature will expose the cruelty of the 3 main animal tests used on millions of animals each year:
(1) the Eye Irritancy Testing, which is also called the Draize test, which forces chemicals into the eyes of
fully conscious, restrained rabbits. No pain relievers or anesthetics of any kind are used. The extreme pain often causes them to struggle so severely that they break their own backs-dying in agony needlessly.
(2) The Skin Irritancy Testing, which places corrosive chemicals onto the shaved/raw skin of rabbits and guinea pigs. The caustic nature of these substances causes severe injuries to the animals. Gaping wounds and bleeding are common.
(3) The Oral Toxicity Testing, the LD50, which force-feeds strong chemicals to fully conscious animals for 14-28 days until they die.

Animal testing doesn’t make products safe. For example, according to animal tests, cigarette smoke, asbestos, arsenic, benzene, and glass fibers were all found to be safe to ingest. Many household products, all tested on animals, are unsafe for us and our environment. And inaccuracies in cancer-causing tests occur up to 70% of the time.
Animal testing only provides a legal defense for companies whose products could still harm humans. Test results are used to win lawsuits, not protect people. Some of these tests are over 50 years old and have never been required to be scientifically validated.

Just this year, the National Research Council (a committee of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences) reported that the US government must develop new testing to assess the effect of chemicals on human health. Their report, which was requested by the EPA, suggested the use of new technologies such as biomonitoring — analyzing chemical levels in blood, urine, breast milk and human tissue–and high-throughput assays. It remains to be seen whether the EPA will take this advice and end unreliable inhumane animal testing, which, of course, is what, for decades, we animal rights folks have been calling for. We will also give viable alternatives (including the new info about Episkin, which has been shown to be at least as good as rabbit skin at predicting whether products will irritate human skin), identify the companies that still use animal testing (including Proctor and Gamble) and give contact info, and identify the companies that do not animal test.”

For more info about the protest, contact: rayshick @ msn.com