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On May 8, activists around the world will join IDA and Uncaged(a UK animal protection organization) for the 14^th annual “Global Boycott Procter & Gamble Day.” Why boycott Procter & Gamble?  For years, P&G has tested its products on animals while, at the same time, secretly opposing EU legislation that would phase out animal testing and manipulating the public by offering misleading, often contradictory, statements on its own testing.

Maybe you are already boycotting P&G, or perhaps you are wondering why you’ve never heard of the global company… Either way, a quick look at P&G’s website – www.pg.com – will show you just how absolutely gargantuan a corporate giant can become. P&G is an industry leader in household, health, and beauty products – owning such brands as Bounty, Downy, Febreeze, Swiffer, Pampers, Puffs, Mr. Clean, Crest, Oral-B, Pepto Bismol, Tampax, Vicks, Scope, CoverGirl, Herbal Essences, Head & Shoulders, Ivory, Old Spice, Pantene, Olay, Gillette, Zest, and even Dolce & Gabbana. A full list is available <here. Pet food brands owned by P&G, like IAMS and Eukanaba, are responsible for keeping dogs and cats in cages for years on end in order to test experimental pet food formulas. According to a May 5^th press release, P&G recently acquired Natura Pet Products, which owns the pet food brands Karma, Innova, Evo, Healthwise, and California Naturals. The public outcry surrounding the issue of pet food testing has forced P&G to create whitewashing sites like www.iamsagainstcruelty.com to distract from the animal cruelty in its own laboratories.

It is for this reason that our outreach is so important. This Saturday, May 8, activists around the world will take to the streets – and the stores – to educate consumers on the price animals pay for P&G’s products. For more information on participating in this day of action, including a leaflet and a guide to activism, visit Uncaged’s Global Boycott Procter & Gamble Day website. To find out what you can do to fight animal testing every day of the year, please visit our P&G Kills website.

This is Baker, a squirrel monkey who was one of the first animals to survive a NASA spaceflight. Photo Credit : NASA

On Tuesday, IDA released letters from seven celebrities opposed to upcoming animal experiments funded by NASA. The experiments are part of a study entitled “Long-term Effects of Space Radiation in Nonhuman Primates” and they would involve irradiating squirrel monkeys at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), a Department of Energy facility in New York State.

The celebrities signed on to the IDA-drafted letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr., and Brookhaven National Laboratory Director Dr. Samuel Aronson. Those who have signed to date include Alicia Silverstone, James Cromwell, Zachary Quinto, Allison Janney, Woody Harrelson, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel, and Elizabeth Perkins. Click here to send your own message to Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Department of Energy.

NASA’s proposed experiment would expose these tiny monkeys – only a foot tall – to one massive burst of gamma radiation equal to a three-year journey to Mars and back. Since the 1950s, thousands of monkeys have been exposed to various dosages of radiation, including radio frequency, microwave, X-ray, gamma, electron, proton, neutron and other particle radiation. Scientists have already shown that gamma radiation can cause depressive behavior, immobility, hyperirritability, convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, hair loss, open sores, skin hemorrhages, and even death.

Previous research has also proven that animals of different species – even of different strains of the same species – react differently to radiation, which calls into question the proposed experiment’s scientific value for human astronauts. These objections and more were included in an official complaint to NASA and BNL sent jointly by IDA and the International Primate Protection League (IPPL). IDA’s anti-vivisection team worked with Shirley McGreal of IPPL on the complaint – challenging the experiments on scientific grounds and citing fatal flaws, such as redundancy, species differences, and available alternatives already in use.

NASA has already committed $1.75 million in taxpayer money to the experiment. BNL is expected to conduct the radiation portion of the experiment, but BNL has not yet made the final decision on whether it will do so. According to conversations with PR officials at BNL, the experiment is currently being reviewed by BNL’s safety, science, and animal welfare committees. If you have not already done so, please take the time to send a letter condemning these experiments to Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Department of Energy.

Thanks for standing with us against these experiments. We will provide updates when we know more.