Neal Barnard, M.D. - Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Animal Guardian, Vol 9, No. 4, 1996 - Doris Day Animal League

When you read about cruel animal experiments, do you ever think that you might hold the key to stopping some of these experiments -- that you might actually be the one to give them the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down"?

Although many experiments are funded by government or military programs that are insulated from the public, there is one large group of animal experiments whose sponsors are exquisitely sensitive to public opinion. Certain charities give money year after year to animal experimenters. That money comes from well-meaning donors who have never had a look inside the laboratories that stay in business because of these donations.

But if a charity were to lose even a portion of its public support because of such experiments, it would have every reason to emulate those charities that fund no animal research. In England, the Wolfson Foundation announced that it would fund no animal experiments. In the process, other research-sponsoring charities knew that it had gained a tremendous advantage over them in the competition for donations. After all, there are no donors who especially want money to go to animal experiments, but there are many who definitely do not want their donations going in that direction. Charities that continue to pay for animal experiments risk losing donations and legacies, some of which will be substantial.

On this side of the Atlantic, charities' policies are only gradually becoming known. But what an eye-opener they are!

The March of Dimes has paid for many animal experiments including experiments in which animals were exposed to alcohol, cocaine, or nicotine, and even experiments in which kittens' eyes were sewn closed in order to demonstrate the effects on brain development. On the other hand, Easter Seals funds no animal experiments at all and has an explicit policy against making any such grants.

The American Kidney Fund and the Heimlich Foundation never sponsor any animal experiments, while the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association, unfortunately, still do.

Charities are sometimes slow to respond to donors' wishes, particularly those charities that have been around so long that they have become set in their ways. But there is no doubt about it -- charities do not like being connected with cruelty.

The National Head Injury Foundation gave a financial award to a controversial primate experimenter several years ago, and has since tried to distance itself from that indiscretion and from all other animal experiments. While the Shriner's Burn Institute and Shriner's Hospitals still pay for many animal experiments, the International Association of Firefighters Burn Foundation is investigating in non-animal alternatives, particularly cellular research, and welcomes the goodwill that this policy brings.

Some animal research foundations try to appease donors by saying that animals are "humanely" treated, that a committee reviews all experiments before they are funded, or that they mainly use small, less popular animals, such as rats and mice. Needless to say, such statements do nothing to address donors' real concerns.

Before you make a contribution to a charity to help make people's lives better, please make sure they aren't hurting animals to reach their goals.

What You Can Do:

1. When a research facility asks for a donation, let them know that you only support those with a strict no-animal-experiments policy. Write to charities, and write again.

2. Be sure to thank charities, such as Easter Seals, for their compassionate, no-animal-experiments policy.

3. Make copies of this list and give to friends and relatives, and pass it out in your neighborhood.

Health Charities Which Do Not Fund Animal Research

American Kidney Fund
6110 Executive Boulevard, Suite 1010
Rockville, MD 20852

Arthritis Research Institute of America
300 S. Duncan Avenue, Suite 240
Clearwater, FL 34615

Association of Birth Defect Children
827 Irma Avenue
Orlando, FL 32803

Cancer Care
1180 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Cancer Prevention & Survival Fund, PCRM
5100 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016

Designer Institute for AIDS
150 West 26th Street, Suite 602
New York, NY 10001

Disabled American Veterans
P.O. Box 14301
Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301

Easter Seals
230 West Monroe Street, Suite 1800
Chicago, IL 60606-4703

The Green Foundation
9481 Lechner Road
Forth Worth, TX 76179-4055

Heimlich Foundation
2368 Victory Parkway, Suite 410
Cincinnati, OH 45206

International Association of Firefighters Burn Foundation
1750 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

International Child Health Foundation
American City Bldg; P.O. Box 1205
Columbia, MD 21044

International Eye Foundation
7801 Norfolk Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814

Multiple Sclerosis Association of America
601 White Horse Pike
Oaklyn, NJ 08107

National Burn Victim Foundation
32-34 Scotland Road
Orange, NJ 07050

National Foundation of the Blind
1800 Johnson Street, Suite 300
Baltimore, MD 20230-4998

National Head Injury Foundation
1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington, DC 20036-1904

The Rheumatoid Disease Foundation
5106 Harding Road
Franklin, TN 37064

Health Charities Which Still Fund Animal Research

Alzheimer's Association
919 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1000
Chicago, IL 60611-1676

American Cancer Society
1599 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

American Diabetes Association
1660 Duke Street
Alexandra, VA 22314

American Heart Association
7320 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75231-4599

American Institute for Cancer Research
1759 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20069

American Lung Association
1740 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

American Parkinson Disease Association
60 Bay Street
Staten Island, NY 10301

Arthritis Foundation
1314 Spring Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30309

Cancer Prevention Project
1120 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 303
Washington, DC 20069

City of Hope
30 West 26th Street, Suite 301
New York, NY 10010

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
6931 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Epilepsy Foundation of America
4351 Garden City Drive
Landover, MD 20785

The Foundation Fighting Blindness
1401 Mt. Royal Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21217

Joslin Diabetes Center
One Joslin Place
Boston, MA 02215

Leukemia Society of America
600 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10016

March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
1275 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10605

Muscular Dystrophy Association
3561 East Sunrise Drive
Tucson, AZ 85718

National Foundation for Cancer Research
7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 332W
Bethesda, MD 20814

National Kidney Foundation
30 E. 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016

National Multiple Sclerosis Society
733 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017-3288

National Parkinson Foundation
1501 9th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136

National Psoriasis Foundation
660 SW 92nd Avenue
Portland, OR 97223-7195

Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer
3800 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Parkinson's Disease Foundation
650 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032-9982

Shriner's Burn Institute
51 Blossom Street
Boston, MA 02114

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
1 St. Jude Place Bldg, P.O. Box 3704
Memphis, TN 38173-0704