^Received this email today from PETA.co.uk
Really disgusted and I will be boycotting these brands^.
Are you drinking tea right now? If so, I hope it's not a cup of PG tips, Lyons or Lipton tea ? those brands might leave a nasty taste in your mouth by the time you've finished reading this e-mail.
The multimillion-pound company behind PG tips, Lyons and Lipton teas has caused animals to suffer and die so that the company can make health claims about its teas. By supporting PETA's vital work, you can help us put an end to cruel experiments on animals and make a difference in the lives of countless other animals in need. Please make a donation today.
PETA has uncovered numerous cruel tests that the maker of PG Tips, Lyons and Lipton has conducted on animals to evaluate the effects of tea. The following are just a few examples:
? Rabbits were fed a high-fat diet, giving them abnormally high cholesterol levels and hardened arteries and then fed tea in their water. After the experiment, the rabbits' heads were cut off.
? Mutant Mice bred to suffer bowel inflammation were administered tea ingredients in order to see if there were any effects on their condition. After the test, the mice were killed by neck-breaking or suffocation.
? Rats were forced to eat a high-fructose diet, damaging their brains. Others had their abdominal wall punctured and were fed radioactively labelled tea ingredients through a tube in their stomach. All the animals were later killed.
? Piglets were exposed to E coli toxins which cause diarrhoea. As part of the tests, experimenters cut the pigs' intestines apart while the animals were still alive. The pigs were then killed.
Experimenting on animals is not only cruel but also unnecessary. There are cheaper, quicker and more accurate methods available. Yet every three seconds, an animal dies in a European lab.
Typhoo, Twinings, Tesco and Fortnum & Mason have given PETA written confirmation that they don't test their teas on animals ? but the maker of PG tips refuses to end its torment of animals.
Vivisection is a sickening example of exploitation on a massive scale. In 2009, more than 3.5 million individual animals were experimented on in the UK. All but a tiny few are now dead.
Animals in laboratories around the world are abused in horrific ways. Poisoned. Starved. Brain-damaged. Paralysed. Mutilated. Irradiated. Burned. Gassed. Electrocuted. Kittens are deliberately blinded. Mice are made to grow tumours as big as their own bodies. Monkeys have holes drilled into their heads. Sheep and pigs have their skin burned off.
Abuse of animals for tea must stop. You can help by making a donation to support PETA today.
With your support, we can save the lives of millions of individual animals by working to change the way chemicals, drugs and products such as food, beverages and the ingredients that go into them are tested here and across the European Union ? as well as by fighting to improve the treatment of animals all around the world.
PETA and our affiliates are the greatest ? and often the only ? hope for animals facing the horrors of vivisection. We are making progress, but we won't rest until tests on animals are abandoned for good. We know that we can achieve this by using hugely effective and proven campaigning techniques such as the following:
? Pressuring companies to ban animal testing: this has been successfully done with more than 1,000 businesses.
? Publicising evidence from undercover investigations: the video footage from a recent PETA US investigation of a vivisection laboratory was so powerful that it led to the closing of the laboratory within a week of broadcast of the footage.
? Lobbying decision-makers at national and EU levels to stop animal testing: following pressure from PETA, European regulators recently issued new industry guidelines outlining how thousands of companies can avoid animal tests.
? Funding research of non-animal test methods: funding allowed for the scientific evaluation of a cruelty-free skin irritation test, which has replaced painful tests that were previously conducted on rabbits.
? Educating the public: the horrifying facts about vivisection need to be clearly communicated to the media and the public alike.
Our success depends on you. The animals who are suffering behind the closed doors of laboratories cannot help themselves. They need us ? and so do countless other animals facing abuse right now. We must do everything in our power to save them. Please donate today.
Very truly yours,
Ingrid E. Newkirk
Founder
PS I know that I will never drink teas from PG tips, Lipton or Lyons until the company behind them drops these deadly tests forever, and I hope that you will join me. PETA has a proven track record of helping animals and can save many more lives with your help today. Thank you for your continued support. It's vital to our success.