UPDATED- Mars lies to public about animal testing! Pls. sign petition

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The petition to tell Mars Inc. to stop animal testing has some newupdated information, which tells a little more about the whole picturehere for anyone interested. They are telling the public they do not test, another company does, but it is affiliated with MARS!!!!!!! All references are listed - If you have not signed the petition already, please take a moment todo so at:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tell-mars-inc-to-stop-testing-on-animals-to-develop-new-chocolate-productsTHANKS!Glen-------------Petition text:Tell Mars Inc., to stop testing on animals!Got a sweet tooth? Think twice before picking up a Mars candy bar! Youshould know that candymaker Mars, Inc., creator of M & M's, Snickers,Twix, Dove, Three Musketeers,

Starburst, Skittles, and other candies,funds deadly animal tests, even though there are more reliable humanstudies and not one of the tests is required by law.Mars is currently funding a deadly experiment on rats to determine theeffects of chocolate ingredients on their blood vessels. Experimentersforce-feed the rats by shoving plastic tubes down their throats andthen cut open the rats' legs to expose an artery, which is clampedshut to block blood flow. After the experiment, the animals arekilled. Mars has also funded cruel experiments in which mice were feda candy ingredient and forced to swim in a pool of a water mixed withwhite paint. The mice had to find a hidden platform to avoid drowning,only to be killed and dissected later on. In yet another experimentsupported by Mars, rats were fed cocoa and anesthetized with carbondioxide so that their blood could be collected by injecting a needledirectly into

their hearts, which can lead to internal bleeding andother deadly complications.Mars' top competitor, Hershey's, has pledged not to fund or conductexperiments on animals.Mars is also lying to the public claiming that it doesn't fund cruelanimal tests, even though PETA has uncovered a history of suchexperiments. If you call their Consumer Care hotline in the USA at1-800-627-7852 (Mars' consumer hotline calls in the US are handled bythe outsourced company TeleRX Marketing Inc. in Pennsylvania), theyhave a recorded message that says Mars does not conduct or fund anyanimal experimentation. If you speak to a Mars representative, theywill read you the same statement. This has already been exposed inthe media as a falsehood, with the University of California confirmingin a statement to Reuters (see link below) that they are currentlyconducting animal research for Mars Inc. The U.S. Federal TradeCommission has

been asked to investigate Mars' false claims; that Marsis apparently deceiving consumers with their policy statement sayingthey do not conduct or fund animal experimentation, when it is clearfrom news media and published articles in scientific journals thatthey do.Tell Mars why you are opposed to animal testing and if you no longerwish to purchase their products in light of this news.Web references to this issue can be found at:http://marscandykills.com/http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1433837420071214( [actress] Pamela Anderson slams Mars over animal cruelty )http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0731748320071208( PETA boycotting Mars candy co. over animal cruelty )http://www.confectionerynews.com/news/ng.asp?n=82017-mars-peta-animal-testing( Mars angers activists over animal testing

)http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=77026-mars-epicatechin-memoryOther references from scientific journals that confirm that Mars Inc.indeed funds animal experimentation can be found at:*Elizabeth Paisley et al., "Temporal-Regulation of Serum Lipids andStearoyl CoA Desaturase and Lipoprotein Lipase mRNA in BALB/cHnnMice," Journal of Nutrition (1996) 126.11: 2730-2737.*Timothy Orozco et al., "Chronic consumption of a flavanol- andprocyanindin-rich diet is associated with reduced levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in rat testes," Journal of NutritionalBiochemistry (2003) 14: 104-10.*Francene Steinberg et al., "Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Improves Growthand Reproductive Performance in Mice Fed Chemically Defined Diets,"Experimental Biology and Medicine (2003) 228: 160-66.*Henriette van Praag I et al., "Plant-derived flavanol (-)epicatechinenhances

angiogenesis and retention of spatial memory in mice."Journal of Neuroscience (2007) 27: 5869-5878.Note: Most of the information here is from PETA's site on this issueat http://marscandykills.com/ I have made this petition in order tohelp publicize this important issue and to spread public awareness, aswell as to share with Mars Inc. what consumers have to say, since theyobviously do not seem to be listening too closely to consumer concernssince this issue hit the media some months ago. Mars Inc.'s missionstatement/company philosophy, which is called "The Five Principles",speaks of such things as high standards of "honesty and integrity",the "company's ethical responsibility", and the "bond of trust,respect, and honesty that we share with ..... our consumers." Theyalso say in the same mission statement, and verbally repeat it oftenin media interviews, that "the consumer is our boss." Let's hope

thatall of their corporate values will shine through when dealing withthis issue of animal testing that has obviously upset so manyconsumers.------------------------------LATEST NEWS (posted January 7, 2008):One petition signer wrote: "Although the last time I sent themletters, I got a lovely form letter in return, pointing me to theirwonderful website telling all about how Mars doesn't do any animaltesting at all, Symbioscience does.At any rate, it's a way to kill about a minute, and since I have a 5and a 6 year old, I have a certain fondness for the whole, "I didn'tdo it, my imaginary friend did" defense. "Mars Inc. is apparently under the impression that they can just tellconsumers that they do not conduct or support any vivisection, thattheir "separate business unit Symbioscience" does so. YetSymbioscience is part of Mars Inc. Do they really believe

thatconsumers can be so easily duped? This is the 21st century folks,where consumers are too savvy to be fed public relations stylesyntactical backflips. The Federal Trade Commission will get to thebottom of this when they investigate; let's see if they see any realdistinction between Mars Inc. and their "separate business unit"; inthe eyes of the average consumer, which is who the FTC tries toprotect from "deceptive advertising", is there indeed any differenceif you try to shift animal testing to a subunit of your largercompany? In the end, it is still part of Mars. Inc.; look at thewebsite of Symbioscience at http://www.marsymbioscience.com/ and seeif you think the companies are all that "separate". They also have anicely arranged page under the heading NEWS there, where they have ahandy list of all of their "Research Studies", with links showing someof the studies they have conducted using

vivisection/animals.From the FAQ on the same site:"How does Symbioscience relate to the rest of the Mars company?Symbioscience is a business unit within Mars, Incorporated" .........Enough said!---------Regarding another similar case, unrelated to Mars, that the US FederalTrade Commission investigated:"[W]e appreciate that for many consumers, a company's policies towardanimal research and welfare may well affect their choice of or conductregarding a product. ....... Therefore, a company's publicdissemination of its research policy may, depending on thecircumstances, be 'advertising' subject to the substantiationrequirements of Section 5 of the FTC Act."-------Ironically and sadly enough, The Mars Foundation, the charitable/philanthropic arm of the Mars family/corporation, lists as one oftheir funding areas for which they award monetary grants

"animalprotection" / "the protection and preservation of animals andwildlife"..........http://www.naccho.org/topics/fundingguide/documents/jan_2007/Virginia.pdfhttp://atfiles.orgpdf/bicentennialsourcebook.pdfLATEST NEWS (posted January 6, 2008): The Hershey Company has signeda statement pledging that the company will not test its products oringredients on animals."Mars would be wise to follow Hershey's compassionate lead," says PETAVice President Bruce Friedrich. "Hershey's humane program of non-animal research is an excellent model that the rest of theconfectionary industry should emulate."See info about Hershey's pledge at: http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=10736--------------PETITION TEXT:Please Stop Funding Unnecessary and Cruel

Experiments on Animals!I was shocked to learn that Mars is still funding deadly animal testseven though the tests are not required by law, more reliable humanstudies could be used instead, and your chief competitor, Hershey's,refuses to test its products on animals. Please follow Hershey's leadby promising not to fund or conduct experiments on animals.Unless I hear that Mars has ended all support for animal tests, I willbe buying my candy from a more compassionate company and willencourage my friends and family to do the same.PLEASE sign the petition at:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tell-mars-inc-to-stop-testing-on-animals-to-develop-new-chocolate-products--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~