PAMELA ANDERSON TARGETS ANIMAL TESTS IN DEBUT TRIP TO D.C. AS U.S. CITIZEN

I’m in washington!

Very exciting-

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For Immediate Release:

April 24, 2008

PAMELA ANDERSON TARGETS ANIMAL TESTS IN DEBUT TRIP TO D.C. AS U.S. CITIZEN

Star Will Deliver Report to Capital Hill Blasting U.S. Government for Lagging Years Behind Europe In Replacing Outdated Animal Tests

Washington — Pamela Anderson—in her first visit to Washington since becoming a U.S. citizen—will make a personal appeal to her new government to replace a profusion of outdated animal tests with modern technology that is already widely used in Europe. In the shadow of the nation’s capitol, Anderson will hand-deliver a PETA science report—the impetus for a recent front-page Washington Post story—condemning the failure of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use sophisticated, non-animal test methods in place of animal tests.

Date: Friday, April 25

Time: 2 p.m.

Place: HHS, 200 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C.

Anderson’s D.C. visit comes in the wake of a recent National Academy of Sciences study that also criticizes HHS for failing to keep pace with European non-animal test methods.

The U.S. Congress created the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) to replace crude, unreliable, and fatal chemical tests on animals with more modern, accurate, applicable, and cost-effective non-animal test methods. However, in the last 10 years, ICCVAM has approved only four “alternative” methods, while its European counterpart has approved more than two dozen. The PETA report concludes that a profound lack of political will, legislative mandates, and interest on the part of the bureaucrats who constitute ICCVAM have caused the needless suffering and death of millions of animals and caused the U.S. to lag far behind other nations that have made great strides in replacing animal tests. Anderson and PETA are urging Congress to create and fund a new entity to oversee implementation of the recommendations made by the NAS.

“Being a citizen excites me not just because I can vote, but because I can crack the whip on Capitol Hill to defend animals,” says Anderson. Anderson will continue her lobbying efforts at Saturday’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner, which she is attending with PETA Vice President Dan Mathews.

A copy of PETA’s report is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site PETA.org .