Charities: Animal or non-animal testing?

If you believe in the humane treatment of animals, beware of donating money to charitable organisations which exploit them.  Many people leave money in their will to various charities, completely unaware that some of the UK’s leading charities (multi-million pound industries) such as Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) fund animal experiments.  In 2013-14 CRUK received £169 million and BHF £56 million from the public in legacies.  We all want to see medical progress, but there are many other beneficial ways of doing medical research,  that don’t involve animals and which are directly relevant to people.  These include the use of human cells and tissues, computer modelling; MEG, MRI, PET and other imaging technologies, as well as clinical studies on patients.

If you want to support one of the many organisations that fund only non-animal human-relevant research contact www.animalaid.org.uk/go/charities for a free pocket guide.  This lists the charities which do and don’t fund animal research, or download their free smart-phone app by searching for ‘Cruelty-Free Giving’ in iTunes or Google Play.  Or visit their website, Victims of Charity at www.victimsofcharity.org/legacy-of-suffering to speak out for victims of vivisection and help put an end to their suffering.  To read more about charities that don’t fund animal testing go to peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/naughty-nice-charities.aspx.  You can support the following organisations if you want to end testing on animals: British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) at www.buav.org, National Anti-Vivisection (NAVS) at www.navs.org.uk, Animal Defenders International (ADI) at www.ad-international.org, The Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research (DHT) at www.drhadwenttrust.org and Uncaged Campaigns at http://www.uncaged.co.uk.