Here is PETAs official response to Seventh Generations denial that they are supporting animal testing legislation. Dear Supporter, Thank you for standing up for animals by contacting Seventh Generation to tell them supporting legislation that will increase tests on animals is unethical and unacceptable. Unfortunately, Seventh Generation appears to have resorted to misleading statements and untruths in its responses to consumers. Seventh Generation has profited from marketing itself as cruelty-free, and while the company itself does not test on animals, Seventh Generation is actively supporting and pushing for legislation that will lead to a drastic increase in the numbers of animals used in chemical tests in the U.S. Contrary to what the company is now telling consumers, we have tried to work with Seventh Generation for years to educate them about the serious and deadly implications of their campaigns—and to provide alternatives that promote good science and good ethics—but Seventh Generation has rebuffed our attempts to provide them with additional information and work with other organizations to ensure that any legislation passed includes language minimizing animal use. The company has repeatedly declined to work with PETA and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) on this issue, and it became necessary to share this information with our supporters. Specifically, we have asked Seventh Generation to condition its very active support for reform of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on the inclusion of language requiring the use of nonanimal testing methods where available, as is the case in European law. Without this language, many millions of animals will be used in additional chemical testing. In December 2013, representatives from PETA and PCRM spoke with the CEO of Seventh Generation who rebuffed efforts to discuss minimizing animal use by telling us that Seventh Generation “does not get involved in the policy arena.” This is obviously not the case as the company is an active driver in the reform of chemical safety legislation and in promoting policy issues to the public for environmental organizations that favor animal testing (as the blog link they included in their response to consumers will verify). On that call, we proposed ways in which Seventh Generation could work with PETA or PCRM to help promote nonanimal test methods in TSCA reform. No action was taken by Seventh Generation despite our attempts to follow up with the company. In May, PCRM requested that Seventh Generation join a sign-on letter asking that Congress incorporate the concept that animals be used only as a last resort, when all other methods of obtaining information on chemicals have been exhausted, into any legislation. This is exactly what Seventh Generation claims it wants in its response to consumers. Yet the company responded to PCRM stating that “Seventh Generation will not be signing onto the letter as it is not really compatible with our position/approach to chemical reform.” Modernizing TSCA requires modernizing the toxicity testing methods that are used. Doing so is crucial to the rapid development and use of superior nonanimal methods necessary for protecting public health and the environment and would ensure that animal testing is minimized. Seventh Generation’s stance is particularly shocking given that scientists have repeatedly demonstrated that animal tests delay effective regulation and do not protect public health or the environment. Seventh Generation’s response to you and to PETA states that PETA should “engage with the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families” coalition. Please be aware that for close to a year, PCRM attempted unsuccessfully to contact this coalition. At PCRM’s urging, Seventh Generation agreed to connect PCRM with the Companies for Safer Chemicals coalition but, after being pressed, wrote PCRM that they “have not had the opportunity yet to put this on the agenda.” Seventh Generation’s response also states that it did not sign on to “PETA’s” [sic] support letter because the company “does not have enough information on its implications.” The sign-on letter was written and circulated by PCRM—not PETA—and PCRM has provided Seventh Generation with a massive amount of additional information addressing the issue. Seventh Generation never told PCRM that it needed more information or that it was “unsure of the implications.” It has become obvious that Seventh Generation has chosen to abandon a principled stance against animal testing as well as its customers who care about the suffering of animals in laboratory experiments. Sincerely, Jessica Sandler Senior Director Regulatory Testing Division
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 21:01:03 +0000
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