 |  | | Dear luciano,  | Of all the ways PETA is fighting against animal suffering, few have the potential to save as many lives as our efforts on behalf of the millions of dogs, monkeys, cats, mice and other animals killed in cruel and pointless tests on animals. Won't you support this life-saving work right now by taking PETA's Global "Stop Animal Tests" Challenge during which your gift will be matched – pound for pound – thanks to a generous PETA donor?
No other animal testing programme in the world has the potential to cause suffering to as many animals as the European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) programme. REACH requires companies to provide "safety" data for chemicals imported or manufactured in the EU. Much of that data will be derived from testing on animals – tests that can lead to the deaths of more than 3,000 individual animals for many of the chemicals tested. Animals will face tests in which they are repeatedly squashed into plastic tubes and forced to inhale toxic gases or have industrial chemicals put into their eyes. Some will be force-fed chemicals through stomach tubes each day for months or even years. By some estimates, REACH could result in the deaths of tens of millions of animals over the course of the next few years.
Following an outcry from PETA and other animal organisations, European legislators added a principle to REACH requiring that animal tests be used only as a "last resort." Yet despite this mandate and the availability of more effective non-animal testing methods, many companies registering chemicals through this programme continue to rely on cruel and archaic tests for their data – and are costing animals their lives as a result. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which oversees the REACH programme, recently released a shocking report on just how deadly these tests have been. - As many as 1,000 animals were subjected to painful skin and eye irritation tests even though EU-validated non-animal methods were readily available.
- 58,000 animals are estimated to have died in tests in which companies failed to submit a legally required proposal which must face both public scrutiny and ECHA approval before the tests can take place.
- 140,000 individual animals are thought to have died in screening tests that ECHA itself said did not need to be performed.
These findings reveal a deeply disturbing picture of a programme in which testing on animals looks like anything but a "last resort." As massive as the REACH programme is, there is no clear picture of who is actually ensuring that non-animal methods are used, despite a legislative obligation to do so. Almost as disturbing, companies that breach the "last resort" principle appear to face no penalties for simply ignoring alternatives to animal testing.
With so many animal lives at risk and many vital measures to prevent painful animal experiments remaining largely unenforced or ignored, it's up to compassionate people like you and me to do all we can to help these animals and hold those who conduct and administer these types of tests to account.
Will you help our efforts for animals in laboratories by taking PETA's "Global Stop Animal Tests" Challenge right now? We're almost £40,000 away from reaching our goal of raising £95,000 by 7 November, and if we meet the challenge, it will mean £190,000 to support PETA's vital work against animal testing.
PETA is dedicated to preventing the suffering of animals in deadly testing programmes like REACH. While our campaigners have been working with the media to bring this testing scheme to the public's attention, a world-class team of scientists and policy experts from PETA and our international affiliates have been meeting with regulators, companies and fellow scientists from throughout Europe in the hopes of both getting current REACH principles enforced and stopping these and other tests for good.
Your support during PETA's Global "Stop Animal Tests" Challenge today will help us do even more to stop massive animal testing programmes like REACH and promote safer and more effective non-animal testing methods, so please donate right now. Thank you!
For all animals,
Ingrid E Newkirk
Founder
PS REACH is a massive chemical-testing programme that may lead to the deaths of tens of millions of animals over the coming years. That's why I urge you to make as generous a gift as you can to PETA's Global "Stop Animal Tests" Challenge today while your contribution will be doubled – pound for pound – to help us do even more to end tests on animals. | | | |
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