Animal Testing...

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we are members of the local coop. Today I just received their bi-monthly newsletter and in it was an article on "Cloned Animal Products" and "Clorox Going Green". Nothing in the article about Clorox mentioned that they still do animal testing. The coop only seemed excited that a "small environmentally-responsible body care product company" could possibly encourage Clorox to go "green". Being an animal advocate, I of course had to write them and explain why Clorox is still evil. To find out what companies are still using inhumane animal testing, go here:
Caring Consumer

Below is my email to the editor of the newsletter and the Wellness manager (who wrote the article on Clorox).

I am a member of the Hunger Mountain Coop and an animal advocate. I just read the March/April edition of "The Full Scoop" and noticed that there was another article on Burt's Bees and Clorox. The article tells of how Clorox will be going "green" by 2013, but it doesn't mention anything about how Clorox is still doing animal testing for their products. This bothered me since the first article was concerning "Cloned Animal Products" and how the Coop "opposes the practice of animal cloning and will not knowingly sell products derived from cloned animals". I would like to ask what the policy is for carrying products from companies that do testing on animals? I hope you feel the same about animal testing as you do about animal cloning. Your commitment to the environment is admirable, please tell me that the same applies to saving our animals.

The process of testing products on animals is now looked on as archaic by most since there are non-animal test available. One of the test that companies use is the Draize Eye Irritancy Test. This is an acute toxicity test devised in 1944 by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) toxicologist John H. Draize. The procedure involves applying 0.5mL or 0.5g of a test substance to an animal's eye or skin for four hours. The animals are observed for up to 14 days, for signs of erythema and edema in the skin test, and redness, swelling, discharge, ulceration, hemorrhaging, cloudiness, or blindness in the tested eye. The test subject is commonly an albino rabbit. According to the National Anti-Vivisection Society, the animals are killed after the test. (Wikipedia) Another test is the “Lethal Dose Test”. This is where certain chemicals are pumped into the stomach and lungs of the test animals until they die. These test should not happen since scientist have developed artificial skin and bones on which products can be tested. Scientist can even test vaccines with out the use of animals.

But some companies, such as Clorox, still feel the need to do testing on animals. I understand that Hunger Mountain Coop is looking to help the environment, but I hope that you are also looking to help the animals that are needlessly tested on and then killed because certain companies have decided that animal testing is good for America. Although I may not be purchasing Clorox, I am still giving money to a company that test on animals when I purchase something like Burt's Bees. This is not good. I would like to know that your organization feels the same about animal testing as it does about the environment. Although Clorox is now working to go green (good thing), there is nothing that states they are stopping animal testing!!!

Thank you for your time,

Paul

I have also included a video put out by PETA about animal testing.