The coalition will focus on developing the Alternatives to Animal Testing Website. This comprehensive global resorce will serve as an accessible central location for scientists, educators, veterinarians, and individuals throughout the world to obtain information on alternative methods.
The initial coalition includes The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, The Procter & Gamble Company, the National Institutes of Health's Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) and Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Science, and Utrecht University in The Netherlands.
In announcing the global Website, Alan M. Goldberg, Director of CAAT, said, "The major problem we face today is that there is no single definitive source for information on alternatives to animal testing. Establishing this Website is the beginning of a long-term effort by scientists and the animal protection community to bring together existing information and create the opportunity to share new information on alternatives."
The effort is designed to bring together government agencies, the academic community, animal protection groups, and private industry to encourage the use of alternative methods via the "Three Rs" that:
The HSUS, OPRR and Procter & Gamble will provide initial funding to establish the Alternatives to Animal Testing Website. The Website will --
President of HSUS Paul Irwin called the Website project "an important milestone in the 40-year history of the `Three Rs' approach. Development of this Website will hasten the day when the 'Three Rs' become a guiding principle in animal experimentation throughout the world."
Procter & Gamble Chairman & Chief Executive John Pepper said, "P&G's investment in this Website is in response to our scientists and consumers who have shown growing support for our commitment to help develop alternative methods of testing new ingredients for everyday products, methods that don't involve testing on animals."
"To ensure the long term success of the Website, however, we need others in industry, government, academia, and the animal protection community to join us in supporting this important global resource," Pepper added.
While the initial members of the coalition are based in the United States, Goldberg said he has received strong support for the Website from organizations throughout the world. The coalition sponsored a meeting of representatives from almost all of the existing alternative methods databases at the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Netherlands in October 1996. Goldberg said most of these groups have indicated their willingness to participate and have their websites linked to the Alternatives to Animal Testing Website.
The Alternatives to Animal Testing Website can be accessed on the Internet at http://caat.jhsph.edu/. By the end of its first year, Goldberg believes the Website will be the most comprehensive global resource on animal alternatives.
For additional information, contact Judy Montgomery Patton, The Procter & Gamble Company, at phone: (513) 945-8039, or Joanne Zurlo, Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at phone: (410) 223-1693.
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The Animal Welfare Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Ave.
Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
Phone: (301) 504-6212
FAX: (301) 504-7125
E-mail: awic@nal.usda.gov
