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Don't Be Cruel: Support Life-Savers and Shun Life-Takers
 Many of us find it difficult to say "no" when asked to donate to a charity seeking a cure for a disease. And how many of us can take the time to find out how that donation would be used? Would our money really alleviate suffering or would our donation dollars actually contribute to suffering? PETA is here to answer the questions:
Life-Taker Charities
Many huge health charities, including the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the March of Dimes, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Lung Association, actually take millions of lives. They waste precious dollars on cruel, irrelevant experiments on dogs, rats, cats, mice, primates, pigs, sheep, and other animals instead of spending them on promising human-based programs.
Life-taker charities have tortured and killed millions of animals in cruel experiments, yet the incidence and death rates of the diseases that they address remain about the same and, in some cases, have even increased.
Humans and animals both feel pain, fear, sadness, joy, love, and other emotions, but physiologically there are vast differences between the species. Data from one species cannot be correctly applied to another. Different species of animals vary enormously in their reactions to toxins and diseases and in their metabolism of drugs. Consequently, reliance on animal "models" to address human diseases has been misleading, unnecessary, and dangerous.
Every dollar that life-taker charities spend on animal research is a dollar that could have been better spent on humane, relevant, effective programs to help people with diseases or disabilities. Click here to learn more about some of the unspeakably cruel animal experiments funded by the life-taker charities.
Support the Life-Savers
While the life-taker charities do a disservice to both animals in labs and human patients, life-saver charities help without hurting. These charities use the many modern, sophisticated, cutting-edge technologies that offer replacements to animal testing that are cheaper, faster, and more reliable in modeling the human condition. Using cell lines, tissue cultures, computer and mathematical modeling, clinical investigations, epidemiological research, autopsy studies, and other non-animal means, the life-saver charities blaze paths to better understanding of human disease. Animal-friendly philanthropists can give to deserving life-saver charities, such as Easter Seals, Helen Keller International, Children's Burn Foundation, Miracle House, and others that help people without hurting animals.
You Can Help!
Before you donate to a health charity, check out PETA's guide to health charities—which is included in the Animal Savings Club Member Pack or found online here—to see if it is a life-saver or life-taker charity. If the charity that you are interested in is not found in our guide, please contact the charity directly to inquire about its animal research policy and pass this information along to PETA.
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