SIGN THE PETITION
The World Wildlife Fund (also known as the
Worldwide Fund for Nature, or simply WWF) has been actively pressuring
government agencies in the U.S., Europe, and Canada to increase the amount of
testing that they require for pesticides and other chemicals.
The WWF was the driving force in pressuring the U..S.. Congress to legislate
the screening of chemicals for "endocrine (hormone) disrupting"
effects and has subsequently been heavily involved in establishing the
framework for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) massive
chemical-testing program now under development. . As its Web site points out:
"WWF invested substantial resources in the EPA's Endocrine Disruptor
Screening and Testing Advisory Committee," which "agreed upon a set
of tests to form the foundation for the screening and testing program.."
What
the WWF neglects to mention, however, is that 10 of the 15 recommended screens
and tests are animal-poisoning studies, some of which kill hundreds or
thousands of animals at a time.. According to scientific estimates, the
WWF-backed endocrine testing program will kill up to 1..2 million animals for
every 1,000 chemicals tested, and with environmental organizations pressing for
tens of thousands of chemicals to be retested under this program, the toll in
animal suffering and death will be staggering.. The WWF is also pressuring
government agencies in Europe to embark on a similar animal-testing program.
In addition to lobbying for more chemical testing, the WWF has teamed up with
Procter & Gamble, S..C.. Johnson, and other chemical companies to create an
institute to pursue "basic research" on endocrine disruptors.. On top
of this, the WWF is now pushing the U..S.. Congress to pass a bill that would
pour additional millions in public funds into endocrine research--much of which
would likely be used to fund experiments on animals..
Unfortunately, the "endocrine disruptor" issue is not an isolated
example.. The WWF has been a major force in pressuring the European Union to
amend its Chemicals Policy to require companies to test and retest as many as
30,000 new and existing chemicals.. The British Institute for Environmental
Health estimates that this process will kill upwards of 45 million animals if
the standard battery of animal-poisoning tests is used..
The WWF's U..S.. and Canadian offices are
also calling for more testing of pesticides, despite the fact that more than
9,000 animals are already killed for each pesticide product on the market.. The
organization has called for certain pesticides to be tested for "developmental
neurotoxicity" (DNT) using a test that kills upwards of 1,300 animals each
time it is conducted.. This test has been heavily criticized by scientists,
including the EPA's own Scientific Advisory Panel, which concluded that
"the exposure of rat fetus/pups was not shown to be equivalent to human
fetus/infant during equivalent stages of brain development" and that
"the current form of the DNT guideline is not a sensitive indicator of
toxicity to the offspring.." In other words, WWF is calling for thousands
of animals to be killed in a test that scientists admit is not relevant to
humans!
In its defense, the WWF says that "in the absence of effective, validated
alternatives, WWF believes that limited animal testing is needed for the
long-term protection of wildlife and people throughout the world.."
Now more than 20 years later, millions of animals are still
dying in agonizing chemical toxicity tests, and we are no closer to getting
dangerous chemicals out of the environment. . In fact, despite killing hundreds
of thousands of animals in painful chemical toxicity tests, the EPA has not
banned a single toxic industrial chemical in more than a decade!...
The WWF Endorses the Killing of Wild
Animals, Too!!!
The
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) gives special meaning to the word "conservation.
." The organization, founded in 1961 by a group of wealthy trophy hunters,
apparently believes that conserving animals means keeping them around long
enough for well-heeled "sportsmen" to blast them out of the woods,
oceans, skies, plains of Africa, and jungles of Asia.. Past WWF chapter
presidents include C..R.. "Pink" Gutermuth, who also served as president
of the National Rifle Association, and trophy hunter Francis L.. Kellogg, who
is legendary for his massive kills.. In its early days, the WWF even used fur
auctions to raise funds...
Since then, the WWF has learned that most people are appalled by hunting and
trapping, so today, the organization veils its true stance under phrases like
"sustainable development, " arguing that killing is acceptable under
some circumstances. . When answering difficult questions about its policy on
hunting, trapping, and whaling, the WWF is careful never to state outright that
it approves of all these activities.. But don't be fooled, the WWF's intentions
are all too clear and deadly!!
Sealing
According to the Web site of the WWF's Canadian office, "WWF is not an
animal welfare organization. . We support the hunting and consumption of wild
animals provided the harvesting does not threaten the long-term survival of
wildlife populations. . WWF has never opposed a sustainable seal hunt in
northern or eastern Canada.." However, despite the WWF's portrayal of the
situation, the Canadian seal hunt is anything but a "subsistence"
hunt--it is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world.. Quotas
established by the Canadian government have soared to an all-time high: 350,000
seals per year for the next three years.. Not since the mid-1800s, when
unrestricted slaughter saw a million seals per year killed, has so much blood
been shed on the ice off Canada's East Coast...
Worse is that the Canadian government has stated in internal documents that
having the WWF's support for any raise in seal quotas is important, and the
WWF's position statement suggests that it had been working with the Canadian
government before the quota was announced.. In other words, the WWF had the
power to help avert the largest quota of harp seal pups in history but chose,
instead, to let it happen without so much as a word of opposition!! !
Whaling!!!
While the WWF states that it opposes "commercial whaling," it does
support the slaughter of whales by native tribes and under some other
conditions.. When asked directly about its policy, WWF is vague, stating:
"WWF's views on whether sustainable whaling should be permitted derive
from its mission 'to conserve nature and ecological processes and to help build
a future in which humans live in harmony with nature..'" In the past, WWF
officials have clearly stated that "WWF International has the national WWF
organizations behind it in the view that as soon as one can ensure a
sustainable commercial harvest of the great whales under secure international
control, then whaling will no longer be a WWF concern...."
Sport Hunting!!!
As one would expect of an organization founded by hunters, the WWF does not
oppose the slaughter of animals with guns and other weapons for sport.. Rather
than working to stop the killing, the WWF believes that hunting should be
regulated, arguing that wealthy trophy hunters can bring income to poorer
nations.. The WWF claims that it has no power to stop hunting, stating,
"The decision to allow trophy hunting is a sovereign one made entirely by
the governments concerned. -- We will continue to monitor governments'
enforcement of important trade laws to ensure that trophy hunting is done
within the legal standards of that area...."
Elephants!!!
The WWF believes that culling--another way of saying
"killing"--elephants is acceptable, as is the trade in ivory, because
the profits that it brings spur governments to keep elephants from going
extinct.. In 2000, U..S.. News & World Report reported that WWF
representatives traveled to Nairobi to ask the United Nations to lift the ban
on the ivory trade in order to allow a "sustainable harvest of ivory for
horns and hunting trophies..."
The WWF's bizarre view--that we must kill some animals now in order to save
animals to kill later--has proved false time and again.. The trade in ivory has
only encouraged rampant poaching, the senseless slaughter of elephants.. The
WWF tries to duck the issue by falsely stating, "The decision to cull, or
to select animals from the herd for removal or death, is indeed an agonizing
choice, but it is one made entirely by the governments concerned and there is
no international involvement in those decisions.."
Trapping!!!
As with hunting and whaling, the WWF refuses to condemn the massive killing of
animals with steel-jaw leghold traps.. While calling itself a
"preservationist" organization that "seek[s] to be the voice for
those creatures who have no voice," the WWF stands back from the issue,
stating that "the trade in furs, skins, and other products of animals that
are not endangered isn't the focus of our campaign.."
But no matter how hard the WWF tries to "greenwash" its support of
animal slaughter, its real message rings out loud and clear: Animals are ours
to hunt, trap, kill, poison, and use as we see fit.. And although appeals to
preserve genetic diversity, ecosystems, and the planet sound good on paper,
they mean little if what the WWF is really advocating is more efficient killing
fields...
Wolf Hunting!!!
Despite an ongoing international tourist boycott that was called in response to
the wolf "control" program in Alaska, in which at least 100 wolves
have been shot as of March 2004, the WWF is promoting several trips to Alaska
throughout June, July, and August 2004 as part of "WWF Travel," an
"ecotourism" program.. When asked why the WWF was sending its members
to Alaska, effectively undermining efforts to save wolves in the state, the WWF
travel desk representative stated that the WWF did not consider the matter of
wolf-killing a priority..
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
Please write to the WWF and express your opposition to its involvement in the
slaughter of millions of animals and their blood thirsty policies aiming to
cull both human and animal life
Write to the Indian Trustee of Nitin Desai of
WWF-India, Advisor to Prime Minister’s Committee on Climate Change here: nitin-desai@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment