Response from Proctor and Gamble

Here is a copy of the email I got from them:

Discussion Thread
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Response (RightNow Administrator) - 10/02/2008 01:14 PM
Thanks for contacting us about our policy on research involving animals.

P&G has ended animal testing on all our finished consumer products except when required by law. We use non-animal alternatives first. We only use research involving animals when there are no other reasonable options.

In our Healthcare business, we're focused on developing innovative medicines that improve people's lives. Current regulatory standards require animal research while developing these medications. It's our policy to use the minimum number of animals necessary while working toward our goal of the reduction and replacement of animals. We continue to identify screening techniques that are acceptable to global regulatory groups to take the place of animal tests in the earliest phase of drug discovery.

Through our pet care and nutrition products, we help dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives. We feed our foods first to dogs and cats to help us develop nutrition that delivers true health benefits to millions of pets worldwide. We make sure the dogs and cats we work with receive the best care. We treat them as if they're our own pets. They are adopted into loving homes or placed in our retirement facility when their help is no longer needed. At the same time, we're working hard on alternatives to find even better ways of getting these results and eliminating the need for additional research with other animals.

We'd rather use alternative test methods. Not only is the use of animals avoided, but reliable alternative tests generally cost less and take less time than animal research. We'd like to be able to eliminate animal research on ingredients in consumer products altogether, and we're making progress. We've invested over $190 million in alternatives, making us an industry leader. We've helped develop over 50 alternative methods and have shared our work in over 300 scientific publications. We're also working with the FDA and respected animal welfare groups, such as the Humane Society of the United States, to work on reforming regulations and validating alternative methods. To learn more about what we're doing to reach our goal, please visit our website:

http://www.pg.com/science/animal_alt.jhtml

For additional information about alternatives, visit the following websites:

http://www.biorap.org (Biological Research for Animals & People)
http://altweb.jhsph.edu/ (Alternatives to Animal Testing site)
http://www.hsus.org/ (Humane Society of the United States site)
http://www.ampef.org/ (Americans for Medical Progress Educational Foundation)

We hope this information is helpful.

P&G Team