You CAN support health and medical research charities without funding cruel animal experiments.

Several decades ago (at the risk of divulging my age) I, a rather shy and unassertive girl, sat at my desk, working diligently, in a large investment corporation. I enjoyed my career – assisting clients, the satisfaction of completing a hard day’s work - yet it was not my passion.  What I felt really passionate about was the injustice toward animals – animal experiments in particular.

It was for this reason that I felt my anxiety levels rising as I became aware of a work colleague walking from desk to desk soliciting donations in exchange for badges and tokens for Red Nose Day – a well-renowned annual fundraiser for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). 

As she edged closer to my desk I panicked. I knew that donations to Red Nose Day likely funded animal experiments and I was so vehemently opposed to that. But what was I to do?

I actually faced two dilemmas – speaking out to someone I felt intimated by (for no good reason other than my shyness) and being seen as someone who cared more about animals than dying babies. Of course the latter wasn’t true. As many readers will agree, spending valuable resources on research using a different species will not help dying babies at all - in fact it could delay the cure!  Should I speak up and state my disapproval, or should I just hand over a small donation which in the scheme of things was not going to contribute much either way?  

Sue finally reached my desk. She asked – rather nicely – whether I would like to make a donation to Red Nose Day.

I turned to her not knowing what would come out of my mouth, but said confidently, “I understand that you are collecting money for medical research and I wish all the best for those babies who are sick, however I am very much opposed to animal experiments, which I believe the money will contribute to and I’d therefore feel very uncomfortable making a donation.” Almost in disbelief at myself I waited on Sue’s response. She told me that she respected my view and thanked me for letting her know. Phew. Did I really just do that?

Being much older now, hopefully much wiser, and nowhere near as bashful as I was back then, this scenario seems almost cowardly. I mean, why wouldn’t  I be confident in speaking out against something I felt so strongly about? However the reality is that many people do indeed suffer from such anxiety and this is a concern. So I did something about it to help others in a similar situation. I initiated the Humane Charities List.

To be fair, it wasn’t my original idea. I’d heard of a similar scheme in the United States and contacted them to set up a similar thing in Australia and they were happy to assist.

The Humane Charities List is a list of health and medical research charities which have advised HRA that they do not fund animal-based research. This means that you can safely make a donation to these organisations knowing that you are not financially supporting cruel and unnecessary animal experiments. The list now stands at 96 and includes many well-known charities such as HeartKids, Beyond Blue and the Fred Hollows Foundation.

These days I’m not so shy and I do speak out against animal experiments at every opportunity, but I hope that the list provides some ease to others who, when solicited for donations can now ask “Are you on the Humane Charities List?” making it much easier to express their disapproval of animal experiments.

I would love you to support the Humane Charities List by joining its Facebook page, downloading the app and approaching your own favourite charities to ask if they fund animal experiments, and if they don’t, encouraging them to apply online to be on the list. The longer the list grows and the more people refuse to fund animal experiments the more charities will realise that they need to move toward more humane and scientifically valid methods of research which will bring more effective solutions to our urgent medical needs.

For further information about animal experiments: Please visit www.HumaneResearch.org.au
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