SweetSunShower's blog: "Animals"

Tell the March of Dimes to use your donation to support prenatal care, education, social programs, and modern human-based research, not wasteful experiments. Human-relevant research helps babies and mothers The March of Dimes spends up to $30 million of your donations annually on animal experiments that can potentially mislead and hinder progress for humans. MOD should stop using this money on animal tests and instead channel these donations exclusively to worthwhile services, including prenatal care, education, social programs, and human-based research. The most significant advances in birth defect and infant mortality prevention have been achieved through human-based research: After years of funding experiments sewing the eyes of newborn kittens closed, the March of Dimes found that cats have little capacity for regaining sight. In contrast, a 2006 case study showed these experiments do not apply to humans. After decades of futile animal research, a brain abnormality linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was found by studying the brains of babies who died of SIDS. After being safety-tested on several species of animals, drugs like diethylstilbestrol (DES) and common antibiotics like tetracycline and streptomycin were approved for human use. Each of these and many others were later found to cause birth defects in humans. The discoveries that folic acid prevents neural tube defects, that magnesium sulfate helps prevent cerebral palsy and mental retardation, and that maternal smoking, alcohol use, and drug abuse cause increased infant mortality were all achieved using human-based methods. The effectiveness of human-relevant research and the failure of animal tests lead to one urgent conclusion: The March of Dimes must stop throwing away millions of dollars in donations each year on wasteful animal experiments. Tell the March of Dimes this must stop. http://www.pcrm.org/resch/charities/mod/ How can you help? Leaflet at a March of Dimes WalkAmerica event near you! By leafleting, you will help inform March of Dimes supporters that there are better ways to help mothers and babies. http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pcrm_mod_leaflets&AddInterest=1009&JServSessionIdr012=9ravhjxba1.app8b Once you place your order, we’ll send you all the materials you will need at no cost, and let you know about the dates/locations of walks in your area. We rely on compassionate people like you to help us spread the message! http://www.pcrm.org/resch/charities/mod/help.html http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=128926251