Image by Katharina N. from Pixabay

Our thanks to Nicole Corrado for starting this petition.

Please stop the “acute lethality tests” on rainbow trout, three lined stickleback, and other fish species.  These tests involve pumping effluents into fish tanks about once a month, and if more than half the fish die, the experiments are repeated.  

There are animal free ways to test for pollution.  The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine suggests using rainbow trout cell lines instead (obtained without harming fish).  

https://www.pcrm.org/news/good-science-digest/world-aquatic-animal-day

Any guardians of companion fish will test their tank using paper strips and test tubes.  They do not deliberately expose the fish to effluents to see what happens. Bacteria and pollutants in swimming pools are also tested without animals.

Please also end the practice of sublethal toxicity testing of effluent on baby fathead minnows, rainbow trout, and other animals.  These animals are killed, dried, weighed, and preserved.

Please stop putting up tree swallow nest boxes in order to kill and dissect the babies to test for toxins in and near the oil sands.  And please stop catching, killing, and dissecting wood frogs for the same reasons.  Please switch to the non lethal bio monitoring methods used in humans.

Cruelty free alternatives to toxicity testing involve using plants, phytobacteria, or cell cultures.

And stop working with scientists, trappers, hunters, and anglers to catch, kill, and cut up fish, frogs, mammals, birds, etc to weigh and test their organs for selenium, mercury, other pollutants, and reproductive issues.  There are humane non lethal blood tests to examine if any wild animal is healthy and have not been exposed to toxins.

A city that wants to go cruelty free can not if they are mandated to test their sewer water on animals.  Water used to cool nuclear power plants is also tested in fish for any radioactive effects.  Pulp and paper mills that want to use only recycled paper and be ethical are forced to test on and kill animals.  Mining companies and factories that want to be more ethical are also still forced to conduct harmful animal effluent testing.  Canada is legally mandated to phase out animal toxicity testing, yet many agencies are legally mandated to conduct these cruel tests.  Please put an end to all animal toxicity testing and go cruelty free.