Alert! Red Tape Keeps Animals In U.S. Labs

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ACT/ Red Tape Keeps Animals In U.S. Labs KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN When you speak for animals, speak intelligently and civilly. You are all they have! http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/ DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET: http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/VivisectiLessonFutilityPH.pdf DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET:http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/MODSacrificOneWontSaveOther.pdf

4/15/08: Red Tape Keeps Animals In U.S. Labs ICCVAM's Legacy Of Inertia EMAIL kinshipcircle FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER. Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail. =========================================================== FULL CONTACT INFORMATION. Sample letter follows. =========================================================== Dr. William Stokes, ICCVAM Executive Director & NICEATM Director Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods NIEHS, EC-17, P.O. Box 12233 Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709 ph: 919-541-7997; email: stokes, iccvam Marilyn L. Wind, Ph.D., Chair, ICCVAM

Deputy Associate Executive Director Directorate for Health Sciences U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 4330 East West Highway, Rm. 600 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 ph: 301-504-7246; email: mwind The Honorable Representative [YOUR REP'S NAME] U.S. House of Representatives; Washington, D.C. 20510 The Honorable Senators [YOUR 2 SENATORS' NAMES] The U.S. Senate, U.S. Capitol Building; Washington, D.C. 20510 To identify your federal legislators and find contact info, try: Congress.org: http://www.Congress.org USA Senate: http://www.senate.gov USA House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121 =========================================================== EMAIL BLOCK: All emails found for this alert. =========================================================== FULL CONTACT INFO FOR ALL ICCVAM REPRESENTATIVES LISTED BELOW IS HERE: http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/about/agencies/ni_Reps.htm stokes, iccvam, mwind, mohammed.mumtaz, khatlelid, jmatheson, Robert.Foster, Patty.decot, Peter.Schultheiss, harry.salem, michael.kuperberg,

marvin.stodolsky, barnett_rattner, Sarah_Gerould, george.cushmac, steve.hwang, hamernik.karen, rispin.amy, preston.julian, mccall.deborah, mcmaster.suzanne, smrchek.jerry, suzanne.fitzpatrick, lawrence.dhoostelaere, william.allaben, david.hattan, paul.howard robert.bronaugh, richard.mcfarland, devaraya.jagannath, ying.huang, cecilia.aguila, abigail.jacobs, melvin.stratmeyer, paul.brown, polanda, kevin.howcroft, tice, chhabrar, heindelj, snyderm, paul.nicolaysen, kmurali.rao, goshorj, ahir.surender,

jodie.a.kulpa-eddy, betty.j.goldentyer *Kinship Circle cannot guarantee validity of email addresses. During campaigns, recipients may change or disable their email addresses. Emails from government, corporate, or institute websites may be incorrect. =========================================================== SAMPLE LETTER -- This letter is prepared to inform you about the issue. Try to shorten and personalize your letter before sending. =========================================================== Dear Representative, Senators, and ICCVAM Committee: The Lethal Dose 50 Percent (LD-50) test measures the dose of a substance needed to kill half a group of laboratory animals. For up to two years, animals ingest chemicals via stomach tube, inhalation, spray and injection. They vomit, convulse, become paralyzed and bleed

from eyes, nose and mouth. LD-50 tests are not as accurate as combined human cell tests. Still, pharmaceutical, chemical and consumer firms are required to poison animals. Companies that conduct animal-free experiments in-house must ultimately kill animals to meet regulatory qualifications. I respectfully ask government regulators to accelerate validation of non-animal research tools. I also ask my elected officials to advocate legislation mandating the use of animal-free tests. Since the ICCVAM Authorization Act established the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods as a permanent committee in 2000 -- ICCVAM's panel has approved just four non-animal tests (among 185 reviews). Comparatively, the European Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has 34 human-focused methods in place, with 170 more under active evaluation. In 1986 the European

Commission stipulated use of animal-free tests whenever feasible and later began a phase-out of animal experiments for cosmetics. U.S. lawmakers must allocate funds to ICCVAM so informed scientists can develop non-animal models as their European counterpart does. ICCVAM's current committee clings to customary, but old-fashioned animal experiments that haven't undergone thorough scientific analysis. Toxicity testing in animals is "expensive, time-consuming, uses animals in large numbers...and it doesn't always work," says Francis Collins, director of NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute. A National Academy of Sciences report, "Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century," calls for non-animal methodology. According to the National Research Council, in vitro strategy "would generate more-relevant data to evaluate risks people face." It is indisputably cruel to pour toxins into the

clipped-open eyes of rabbits (Draize eye irritancy) or smear corrosives over an animal's shaved skin (skin absorption tests). Human safety data should not come from poisoning animals (LD-50) or overdosing them with drugs while locked in metal restraints (pyrogenicity tests). Please capitalize on strides in biology and computer automation that let researchers gauge toxicity more reliably. I urge ICCVAM to do its job. I urge Congress to enact funding so ICCVAM can do its job. Thank you, =========================================================== SOURCE OF INFORMATION / REFERENCE LINKS =========================================================== In U.S., Few Alternatives To Testing On Animals Panel Has Produced 4 Options in 10 Years http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041103733.html?hpid%3Dtopnews & amp;sub=new Help us print Kinship Circle literature for nationwide distribution PLEASE DONATE: http://www.kinshipcircle.org/donation/ Hard copies cost money and we need your help to pay the printer! Kinship Circle is a 501c3 nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible. http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/DownedOnTheFarmPHOTOS.pdf http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/fatalfights.pdf http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/DyingForAHomeUnwantedCompa.pdf http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/BloodPrintOnIce.pdf ...AND MANY MORE FREE DOWNLOADS: http://www.kinshipcircle.org/fact_sheets/ KINSHIP CIRCLE Action Campaigns I Literature I Animal Disaster Aid Networking info or kinshipcircle http://www.KinshipCircle.org * http://www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/ UNSUBSCRIBE: * Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox * Hit “FORWARD” * Enter kinshipcircle * Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line and hit send SUBSCRIBE: Kinship Circle Primary: Action campaigns on animal cruelty

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