Sample Letter to Pounds who sell unclaimed [Address]
shelter animals to research
facilities.
Dear
Please add my voice to those who are opposed to shelters
that are involved with the practice of "pound seizure" -- selling
unclaimed shelter animals to research facilities.
According
to the IDA Stolen Companion Animal Program, when a shelter sells its
homeless animals, statistics point to an increase in the theft of
dogs and cats. This is due to a profit motive to sell animals. While
many pound workers are ethical and hard working, the temptation to
sell animals by the back door for quick cash is an all too familiar
reality across our country.
No one can be certain their own
beloved companion will never fall into the hands of researchers as
long as animals from pounds are allowed to be sold to researchers. A
lost or stolen pet may not be located or rescued in time to prevent
this tragedy.
Estimates of the number of animals tortured
and killed annually in US laboratories diverge widely -- from 17 to
70 million animals. The majority of dogs and cats used in
experiments come from breeders, animal shelters and pounds, and
organized "bunchers" who pick up strays, purchase litters from
unsuspecting people who allow their companion animals to become
pregnant, obtain animals from "Free to a Good Home" advertisements,
or trap and steal the animals.
Enormous physiological
variations exist among rats, rabbits, dogs, pigs, and human beings.
A 1989 study to determine the carcinogenicity of fluoride
illustrated this fact. Approximately 520 rats and 520 mice were
given daily doses of the mineral for two years. Not one mouse was
adversely affected by the fluoride, but the rats experienced health
problems including cancer of the mouth and bone. As test data cannot
accurately be extrapolated from a mouse to a rat, it can't be argued
that data can accurately be extrapolated from either species to a
human.
In many cases, animal studies do not just hurt
animals and waste money; they harm and kill people, too. The drugs
thalidomide, Zomax, and DES were all tested on animals and judged
safe but had devastating consequences for the humans who used them.
A General Accounting Office report, released in May 1990, found that
more than half of the prescription drugs approved by the Food and
Drug Administration between 1976 and 1985 caused side effects that
were serious enough to cause the drugs to be withdrawn from the
market or relabeled. All of these drugs had been tested on animals.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine reports
that sophisticated non-animal research methods are more accurate,
less expensive, and less time-consuming than traditional
animal-based research methods. Patients waiting for helpful drugs
and treatments could be spared years of suffering if companies and
government agencies would implement the efficient alternatives to
animal studies.
This practice of experimenting on animals
encourages animal users not to venture into more humane teaching and
testing methods, and it puts already traumatized shelter animals
through more pain, suffering, and distress before they are killed in
the laboratory.
Pound seizure can also result in a loss of
revenue for many reasons. Where there is public awareness that
impounded animals will be sold for research, public trust is
tarnished. People abandon animals in the county which creates more
work for animal control personnel, adds to the formation of dog
packs and the destruction of other animals. Pound seizure actually
increases the cost of tax-supported animal control.
For all
of the above reasons, I strongly urge you to immediately ban the
sale of homeless and abandoned animals to research facilities.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to
hearing your decision.
Sincerely,
[Name]
Buddhist Index |
Buddhist
Links |
Tibet
Animal
Protection
0 1 2 3 4 | Home
Poetry & Writing
Index |
Life
& Adventures
|
Animals Rights and Welfare
Letters Urging Reform