Diary of an Atheist

Sept. 21, 2002

I've been doing research lately on products that are tested on animals and I was surprised at how many products there are out there that still used to blind, burn, and cripple animals for the sake of vanity and "safety". By now I'm sure that most of the products used to maim animals for "safety's" sake no longer require this further cruel research. I mean, once you've established that Mr. Clean can burn a rabbit's eye balls out or that Old Spice can be toxic if a guinea-pig is forced to guzzle down too much of it, wouldn't the normal average human being (granted without much of a conscience) write down "Hey, the ferret died from being gassed by too many fumes let off by Comet. Case Closed. Time to move on."?

Not at the wonderful world of Procter & Gamble, where their motto is "If it isn't human, it needs to be tortured for our well being." But don't take *my* word for it. Read this wonderful propaganda issued on their website. The essence of it is ... we torture and maim, but we really do care!

A side note to those who aren't experienced in sniffing out corporate bullshit:
When viewing a website or a corporate advertisement layout, check the relevancy of the accompanying pictures with the text. The more ethnic persons, women, and children they use (almost *always* smiling or laughing), the more the heads of the company are white, greedy scum fucks who have absolutely no concern with the well being of the buyers and the consumers. These pictures are distractions. And what better way to throw off the public then by using imagery that says "Hey! We're not prejudiced! We love blacks, women, and children!" (how many blacks do you see as the head of any major million dollar company? and how many women? I rest my case on the white, scum-crusted glass ceiling)
Now, as an example of distracting imagery, take the picture on the Animal Testing public statement at the top left (the ethnic woman and the smiling ethnic child). What does this have to do with animal testing? Ok, now take the wording used on the right of that page: "Animal care and treatment". They basically claim that all animals tested on are in a safe magical wonderland where dabbling Vicks vapor rub in eye sockets is an ok thing. In their statement, they all but say that the animals love it.

"We conduct only the minimal amount of animal testing on our non-drug and non-food products that is necessary to prove our products are safe or to comply with government regulations."

Non-drug and non-food ... in other words "we only use the animals to digest items that are not digestible and highly toxic." They act like they're doing these animals a favor by doing this.

Another key note to mention: there are PLENTY of other companies that provide the same type of products, who have FAR LESS money to go around, and they don't even need to test their products on animals. So why does Procter & Gamble still use animal testing? It's cheaper to get an animal from the local pound or animal shelter or newspaper classifieds section than it is to set up synthetic lab tests (though the lab tests are equally as effective and do not involve testing on living beings). Their logic is: "Heck, why spend all that money when we can get a free ferret, rabbit, or guinea-pig from the local paper?" People are always giving away free animals in the paper to "a good and loving home". What home could be more loving than good ol' P&G's?

"Before any study using animals begins, a special committee of veterinarians, scientists and community representatives must approve the test plans. Each animal is given the best possible veterinary care and treated with care and respect."

What respectable veterinarian in their right mind would let experiments be done on animals, especially when toxic chemicals like cleaners and bleach are being used? And frankly, if these people actually did CARE about the animal's well beings, they would stop testing all together and go with alternative research methods. Don't be fooled by the propaganda, folks. They provide nothing but pure bullshit.

Below in the red column is a list of products by Procter & Gamble. All products listed in this column are tested on animals or help fund the testing on animals. Next to that list is an alternative list of products and companies that do not test on animals. I will not tell anyone that they should choose to buy different products. But they definitely should be more informed of where their products are coming from. And in my personal opinion, I would rather purchase items that do the same job as the ones produced by Procter & Gamble, and know that the company that I am purchasing from does not use animal vivisection.

To find more products that do not use animal testing & vivisection, visit http://www.leapingbunny.org/

Type of Product:	Products that are tested on animals	Products that are NOT tested on animals
Laundry & Cleaning:	Tide, Downy, Febreze, Gain, Cheer, Cascade, Bounce, Dawn, Safeguard, Mr. Clean, Comet, Dreft, Joy, Solo, Orvus, Spic & Span, Swiffer, Top Job, Snow, Era	Bon Ami, Ecos, Ecover, Seventh Generation, Sun
Soap:	Ivory, Zest, Coast	Basis, Bath & Body Works, Body Shop, Garden Botanika, San Francisco Soap Company, Yardley
Hair Care:	Pantene, Pert, Plus, Vidal Sassoon, Physique, Prell, Ivory, Head & Shoulders	Agree, Aussie, Aveda, Body Shop, Citre Shine, Flex, Freeman, Helsa, Jheri Redding, John Paul Mitchell, Outrageous Hygiene Natracare, Seventh Generation
Hygiene:	Always, Attends, Tampax	Natracare, Seventh Generation
Oral Care:	Crest, Scope, Cloraseptic, Gleem	Interplak, Lavoris, Tom's of Maine, Topol Tooth Polish
Make-Up & Facial Products:	Cover Girl, Max Factor, Clearasil, Clearstick, Noxema, Oil of Olay	Almay, Aveda, Aubrey Organics, Basis, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Jane, Kiss My Face, L'Oreal, Lancome, M.A.C., Mary Kay, Maybelline, Origins, Revlon, Ultima II, Victoria's Secret
Deoderant:	Secret, Sure, Old Spice	Almay, Lady Mitchum, Mitchum, Tom's of Maine
Fragrance:	Giorgio, Hugo Boss, Laura Biagiotti-Roma, Old Spice, Red, Venezia, Wings	Aramis, Avon, Body Shop, Beautiful, Chanel, Charlie, Crabtree & Evelyn, Garden Botanika, Liz Claiborne, Tommy, Tommy Girl, Victoria's Secret, White Linen
Paper Products:	Charmin, Bounty, Puffs, Banner, Royale, Summit	Marcal, Seventh Generation
Respiratory Care:	Nyquil, DayQuil, Vicks Vapor Rub	equivalent products can be found at Tom's of Maine