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pg. 2 Congressmen Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Tom Lantos (D-CA) recently introduced Bill HR-4281, the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) Authorization Act. This House Bill follows Senator Mike Dewine's (R-OH) companion Senate Bill 1495. Both seek to hasten the validation process and to permanently establish ICCVAM as the official government body that assesses non-animal models. If the ICCVAM Bill passes, federal agencies would be obligated to consider humane alternatives, unless they could prove an animal mode worked better. An ad-hoc ICCVAM has approved Corrositex, artificial skin to test a chemical's corrosiveness. Corrositex eliminates the required 3 animals per chemical in cruel dermal-irritation tests. England has outlawed the use of live animals to practice medical techniques. Why cut apart dogs (whose tissue and internal organs deviate in texture and elasticity from those of humans) when surgical skills are better learned through human surgery, the human cadaver lab alternative, or computer simulators? It's time that Average Joes and Janes "just say no" to cavalier government spending and inhumane ethics. This is not a question of saving dogs or bunnies instead of humans. It is a question of choosing good science over bad science. WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1.) Since this article was published ICCVAM was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Write to your Senators and Representatives in Washington D.C. Ask that they allocate federal funds (your tax dollars!) for more scientifically sound and humane non-animal research alternatives. The Honorable _________________________________ The Honorable _______________________________ To find out who your legislators are: www.hsus.org/forms/search_reps.html or call 202-955-3668. You can also locate legislators and government department addresses at: http://www.congress.org/
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