http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iccvam_toxicity
'Wa****ngton Post' Investigation Reveals Government Testing Sham
Animals in the U.S. are being injected with substances like Botox
until they become paralyzed and suffocate, even though there are
modern, non-animal methods to test the deadly neurotoxin. As a recent
Wa****ngton Post investigation reveals, the entity put in place by
Congress to reduce the use of animals in toxicity testing—the
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative
Methods (ICCVAM)—has failed miserably and has, in fact, become a major
obstacle to the incor****ation of non-animal test methods. In its 10
years of existence, ICCVAM has only recommended four "alternative"
test methods to regulatory agencies. During the same period of time,
its European counterpart recommended more than two dozen!
PETA has released a new re****t confirming The Wa****ngton Post's
findings and showing that the U.S.' failure to move forward is because
of a profound lack of political will, legislative mandates, interest
on the part of federal bureaucrats, and a sense of urgency to
modernize chemical testing methods. The failure of the U.S.
government, including ICCVAM, to reduce and replace the use of animals
in toxicity testing ensures that millions of animals will continue to
suffer as they are poisoned by toxic chemicals and fails to protect
the public health.
Last year, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a landmark
re****t which, in the words of an NAS news release, stated that the use
of non-animal methods "would generate more-relevant data to evaluate
risks people face, expand the number of chemicals that could be
scrutinized, and reduce the time, money, and animals involved in
testing ... ." In the wake of the NAS re****t, it looks as though the
United States may finally be ready to start catching up to other
nations by adopting modern testing methods. But this will not happen
as long as ICCVAM is allowed to stand in the way of progress.
PETA is calling for a congressional investigation into ICCVAM's
negligence and for the creation of a new entity to oversee the
implementation of the NAS recommendations. Please use the form below
to contact your members of Congress about this im****tant issue.
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