Procter & Gamble

Each year, thousands of animals die in Procter & Gamble laboratories -- the victims of painful, archaic and entirely unnecessary product tests.

Caustic chemicals are forced into the eyes of rabbits and applied to animals' shaved and raw skin. Laboratory workers place the animals in restraining devices so they cannot struggle while the workers apply the chemicals, which burn into the animals' eyes and skin. P&G "scientists" do not sedate the animals or give them pain killers. Animals sometimes break their necks or backs attempting to escape the pain. Those that survive are used in yet additional painful tests... until they are finally killed. The victims include rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets and other animals. P&G refuses to stop testing its products on animals, despite the fact that these tests are not required by any law, and despite the fact that more reliable and humane alternatives do exist.

Procter &Gamble spends millions of dollars to package itself as a responsible, caring company, and claims to be a leader in the development of alternatives to the use of animals in product testing. But P&G refuses to put its money where its mouth is. In 1996 alone, P&G spent $5.1 billion on advertising. This stands in stark contrast to the $64 million that P&G claims to have spent on developing alternatives over a 14-year period! Despite its repeated P.R. claims about being in the forefront of developing alteratives and reducing product testing on animals, P&G's priorities seem clear: in less than 5 days, P&G spends more on advertising than it claims to have spent in 14 years on alternatives to painful and lethal animal tests.

The fact is, P&G says one thing and does another. If they truly shared the goal of eliminating animal cruelty, P&G would not have lobbied to defeat a bill before the California legislature that would have banned the infamous Draize eye-irritancy test.

In reality, P&G relies on these archaic tests strictly for its own protection from liability lawsuits. The truth is that P&G could stop animal testing today without hindering anyone's safety. Until it stops its animal cruelty, the letters P&G will stand for nothing but Pain & Greed!

In toxicity tests animals are force fed, injected or gassed with a test substance and the effects, including lethargy, vomiting and death are observed. The infamous LD50 test stands for Lethal Dose 50% where a group of animals is deliberately poisoned until half of them are dead - the survivors are then also killed for further analysis.

Rabbits and guinea pigs have their skin scraped raw and then coated with chemicals to study their irritant effects. Rabbits are also subjected to the Draize eye irritancy test , where a product is dripped into the eye and left there for several days.

Cosmetics manufacturers have 8,000 ingredients available to them, yet they still want to test more new substances on animals in the race for larger profits.

Fortunately, there are many safe, effective and humane alternatives to Procter & Gamble's Tide of Torture.

Over 500 companies develop, manufacture and sell safe and effective consumer products without animal testing. They use newer, more effective methods such as human cell cultures, chemical tests and computer models. Millions of Americans have taken the Cruelty-Free Pledge, choosing to purchase their consumer products from those compassionate companies that do not harm or kill animals. By buying cruelty-free, you'll support the growing trend towards kinder and more effective safety testing, while sending a powerful message to P&G that when they hurt animals, they also hurt what they care about the most: their profits. Your dollars do make a difference!

Listing of all P&G products and alternatives

Buy non-animal tested products, including: Dial, Amway,  Bon Ami, Borax, Borateem, Purex, StaPuf, Trend detergents, Revlon, Freeman's cosmetics, Fort Howard paper products (100% recycled).

Join the P&G boycott today. Refuse to buy P&G products. Help spread the word to others.   At the grocery store, look for the name Procter & Gamble on products. If you see P&G, leave it on the shelf. Refer to the product list for other products; some may not say P&G on the label. Write or call P&G CEO John Pepper. Tell him that you have joined the boycott of P&G and will continue to boycott P&G products until they stop all animal testing of consumer and household goods. Call the P&G toll-free consumer number often! 

John Pepper, CEO
Procter & Gamble Company
P.O. Box 599
Cincinnati, OH 45201
1-800-743-7270

Encourage students to ask their school cafeterias to no longer sell Procter & Gamble's Pringles or Sunny Delight or any other P&G products. You might want to create a petition to the school and have your fellow students sign on asking them not to sell Procter & Gamble products.

Procter & Gamble owns three soap operas under Procter & Gamble Productions (PGP): Another World, As the World Turns, and Guiding Light. Please write and call and let these soaps and soap stars know your opinion of P&G's animal testing policy.

Another World, c/o NBC Studios: 1268
E. 14th St., Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718)780-6400

As the World Turns, 524 W. 57th St.,
Suite 5330, New York, NY 10019
(212)986-5330