Dear Readers,

I am writing to ask your help with an urgent situation. Experimenters in Taiwan are planning to inject the rabies virus into beagle puppies and hundreds of other animals as part of an ill-conceived set of experiments, which were hastily planned in response to cases of rabies found in the wild. Our scientific experts have shown that there are good alternatives to the use of animals in these experiments. We are asking you to join us in calling on officials in Taiwan to change course.

Please to sign this petition which will call on decision-makers to cancel these cruel experiments. Even if you have signed a petition in the past for this campaign, please take this new action as it will be going to new recipients who will now make the ultimate decision.

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture proposed these experiments even though experts agree that they are unnecessary and clearly very cruel. The symptoms of rabies include partial paralysis, anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, and painful muscle spasms – and the infection is fatal. Humane alternatives called in vitro virus neutralization assays are readily available.

PCRM's efforts to stop this cruel plan have already made international headlines and helped postpone the experiments for months. Now we need your help to end them for good. In the coming weeks, the legislature's Economic Affairs Committee will decide whether the experiments can proceed. Please sign this petition which will help put an end to these cruel experiments.

Thank you for your support.

Very truly,

Neal Barnard, M.D.
President, PCRM