Red Bull Loves to Test On Animals

New press release from doctors against animal experiments regarding the red bull case

"Doctors Against Animal Experiments Germany revealed that soft drink producer Red Bull funded experiments where rat babies were drowned. According to its own account the company regularly funds animal research projects and is even proud of this.
Investigations of the German organisation Doctors Against Animal Experiments revealed that Red Bull supports harmful animal experiments. At the university hospital of Vienna, Austria, rat babies were drowned. Other rat babies were held under water for 20 minutes to study the late effects of respiratory arrest and oxygen deficit at the time of birth. "These experiments are cruel and unnessessary," says Dr. Corina Gericke, spokesperson of Doctors Against Animal Experiments. "The causes of respiratory distress in human infants, so called perinatal asphyxia, which is supposed to be mimicked here, are diverse and also totally different from the laboratory situation. Also the effects of this are already well-known".
According to its own account Red Bull funds also animal research in the field of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease on a regular basis. "These research areas are good examples for the failure of animal experiments", explains veterinarian Gericke. A study with an Alzheimer vaccination had to be stopped after several patients had developed meningitis. This side effect could not be predicted by the preceding animal test. Other pharmaceutical products which were successful in animals, so called cholinesterase inhibitors, proved little effective in humans but highly risky for unwanted side effects.
"Medical progress is of course important, but animal experiments are the wrong way, " says Gericke. "It is not understandable why Red Bull does not use its money for useful and reliable non-animal research instead of supporting flawed and outdated animal experiments." The Doctors Against Animal Experiments call for protests against Red Bull and calls the company to withdraw its funds from animal research.

Further information:
Neurochemical Research 2004: 29(9), 1767-1777 and Gerontology 2004: 50, 200-205"

www.doctors-against-animal-experiments.org