Stop Nicotine Experiments on Animals!

The tobacco industry has been conducting tobacco and nicotine experiments on innocent live animals. They are attempting to test the effects of nicotine.

In tests that many people don’t realize are still being conducted, animals are forced to breathe cigarette smoke for up to six hours straight, every day, for as long as three years. Animals naturally avoid breathing cigarette smoke, so lab rats are forced into tiny canisters, and cigarette smoke is pumped directly into their noses. In the past, dogs and monkeys have had tubes attached to holes in their necks or have had masks strapped to their faces to force smoke into their lungs. In other commonly conducted tests, mice and rats have cigarette tar applied directly to their bare skin to induce the growth of skin tumors. The animals are then killed, so their livers and lungs can be removed and observed by scientists.

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Companies also conduct animal experiments to test new cigarette papers, tobacco mixtures, and so-called “safer” cigarettes.

It is already known the effects of nicotine on the human body.  Why is it necessary to test its effects on animals? It is common knowledge that nicotine and tobacco cause significant health problems such as cancer and other severe conditions. With this knowledge in mind, it's simply absurd to harm live animals with nicotine testing. It makes no sense at all.

Every year in the U.S., hundreds of animals are harmed and killed in experiments to test the effects of nicotine and tobacco. These experiments are completely inhumane and only serve to benefit the notorious tobacco industry. We should not be allowing selfish tobacco companies to harm poor, innocent animals any longer.

Animal tests are not only cruel but also irrelevant to human health. Different animals have different reactions to toxins, and animals in laboratories aren’t exposed to cigarette smoke in the same manner or time frame as human smokers are.

Testing tobacco products on animals is cruel and unnecessary. Tell the FDA to ban cigarette companies from testing their products on lab animals. No animal should be forced to smoke cigarettes through tubes and masks, only to be killed for research on a health matter that has already been settled.

Tobacco products and their ingredients are not required by U.S. law to be tested on animals—and for good reason. Manufacturers can effectively use in vitro (non-animal) technology, human-based research methods, and the existing body of knowledge from human epidemiological and clinical studies about the health concerns associated with smoking.

Urge the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to ban tobacco companies from practicing needless and inhumane animal testing.

No animal should be tied to smoke masks and tubes in order to die for unnecessary and desperate research so please sign this petition!