Cycling Legend Blasts Heart Foundation For Cruel Animal Experiments
For Immediate Release:
13 June 2002
Contact:
Sean Gifford – 020 735 79229
London — Chris Boardman, winner of Olympic gold in Barcelona and bronze in Atlanta, has written the British Heart Foundation (BHF) on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), urging them to slam the brakes on painful and deadly experiments on animals and to conduct humane, non-animal research instead. Chris, whose stellar racing career was cut short in 1998 by a brittle-bone condition similar to osteoporosis, agrees with PETA that the BHF is wasting precious resources on unreliable animal tests that could be applied to efforts to prevent heart disease and provide direct help to those already suffering its effects.
Recent research funded by the BHF has involved cutting open dogs’ chests and circulating their blood out of their bodies and back in again. In one gruesome experiment, cats’ chests were cut open, their back legs were skinned, tubes were inserted into their necks and they were shocked and injected with sodium cyanide to test muscle reflexes and blood vessel activity. PETA is urging the BHF to spend the donations they receive on non-animal research, education and care and rehabilitation programmes, instead of old-fashioned and cruel animal tests. Many scientists have stated that meaningful conclusions cannot be drawn about one species by studying another.
‘No useful information will be gained by cutting open dogs, cats and other animals and subjecting them to painful, irrelevant experiments,’ writes Boardman. ‘We already know that a healthy, low-fat diet and regular exercise is the key to preventing heart disease.’
For more information about PETA’s campaign to stop the BHF’s cruel animal experiments, please visit our Web site BritishHeartlessFoundation.com.
Chris Boardman’s letter to the BHF follows.
C H R I S B O A R D M A N
13 June 2002
Mr Leslie Busk, Director General
British Heart Foundation
14 Fitzhardinge Street
London
W1H 4DH
England
Dear Mr Busk,
As a professional cyclist, I greatly admire the British Heart Foundation’s mission to eliminate heart disease and think the London-Brighton bike ride is an excellent way to promote good health. I write, though, to urge you to direct all the funds generated by this race and other events into programmes that stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle and not to waste a penny on cruel animal experiments.
No useful information will be gained by cutting open dogs, cats and other animals and subjecting them to painful, irrelevant experiments. We already know that a healthy, low-fat diet and regular exercise is the key to preventing heart disease.
Many wonderful health charities, such as the Bath Cancer Research Unit, the British Institute for Brain Injured Children and the British Red Cross, put all their funds into effective programmes that help people without hurting animals. That’s something that wins everyone’s support.
Please use this opportunity to make the London-Brighton bike ride a winner for humans and animals by using the funds the BHF generates to help people directly or fund humane research instead of cruel experiments on animals.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Boardman