Every year when spring rolls around, I dread those “walk-a-thons”
that so many people unknowingly waste their time and money on. Most of
them don’t realize that they are contributing to worse than useless
“research” that does nothing to fight disease and only wastes precious
time and money that could be used to really help people. In addition,
they are contributing to unnecessary and sadistic cruelty to innocent
animals that most people would find horrendous, if they knew about it.
The March of Dimes is one of those that I’m writing about.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is an
organization that we’re happy to support because they are educating the
public about compassionate research.
Most participants at March of Dimes WalkAmerica events “have no idea
that the charity funds animal experiments, some of which have been
extraordinarily cruel.”
The March of Dimes has funded such experiments as “sewing shut the
eyelids of newborn kittens; injecting pregnant animals with cocaine,
nicotine, and alcohol; tethering pregnant monkeys to cages with
monitoring cables running through the mothers’ uteruses and into their
fetuses’ bodies; and deliberately injuring the lungs of newborn lambs.
Not only are these experiments cruel but they have also failed to lead
to advances in preventing or understanding birth defects.”
“The rates of almost all birth defects have either remained steady or
increased in this country. The number of preterm births has risen
steadily since 1969, and the rate of maternal mortality has not improved
since the 1980’s.”
“While the March of Dimes does not reveal the exact amount spent on
animal experiments, estimates go up to $30 million. PCRM is encouraging
the organization to devote this money to worthwhile services, including
prenatal care, education, social programs, and human-based research.”
(Reprinted from “Good Medicine,” Summer 2007, Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine)
To find out how you can help reform the March of Dimes, visit:
www.ReformtheMarchofDimes.org
To find out if a charity is humane, see:
http://www.humaneseal.org/search.php?ap=y
Also please visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/index.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/index.html
