Campaigns and Investigations

Meet Augustus Augustus was one of the 17 macaque “Silver Spring monkeys,” most of whom were taken from their jungle homes in the late 1970s and purchased for $200 each by animal experimenter Edward Taub for testing purposes. After PETA exposed the extreme cruelty and neglect that Augustus and the others were suffering in Taub’s hands, the police raided the Institute for Behavioral Research laboratory, and Taub became the first experimenter to be convicted of cruelty to animals.

PETA: Making a Difference
Since its inception in 1980, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has worked to end animal testing and experimentation and has brought together members of the scientific, judicial, legislative, and public communities to stop abusive practices in labs. These cases, aided by investigative work, consumer boycotts, and international media coverage, have stopped cruel and unnecessary practices and prevented the deaths of millions of animals.

Victories for Animals
PETA has been responsible for breakthroughs such as shutting down a military laboratory in which animals were shot and ending the use of cats and dogs in all wound laboratories in the U.S.

PETA has also played a major role in these ground-breaking efforts:

• In 1981, PETA launched the precedent-setting “Silver Spring monkeys” case, resulting in the first arrest and criminal conviction of an animal experimenter in the United States on charges of cruelty to animals, the first confiscation of abused animals from a laboratory, and the first U.S. Supreme Court victory for animals in laboratories.
• In response to a PETA campaign, General Motors Corporation ended its crash tests on animals.
• PETA’s undercover investigation of painful scabies experiments on dogs and rabbits at Ohio’s Wright State University led to charges of 18 violations of the Animal Welfare Act and the termination of the experiments.
• After exposing the National Air and Space Administration’s Bion experiment, in which straitjacketed monkeys were to be launched into space implanted with electrodes, PETA succeeded in stopping the project.
• PETA’s undercover investigation of Boys Town National Research Hospital’s experiments, in which kittens’ heads were cut into and cats were starved, spurred the National Institutes of Health to issue a report condemning Boys Town’s animal care and use program. The USDA found that Boys Town had failed to comply with the Animal Welfare Act.

(Click here for more victories for animals.)

With a Little Help From Our Friends
PETA works closely with many companies and organizations to ensure that their products are made without causing harm to animals. Our undercover investigation of a large contract testing laboratory in Philadelphia and our subsequent campaign led to Benetton’s permanent ban on animal tests—the first major cosmetics company to do so. Other leading companies, such as Avon, Revlon, and Estée Lauder, followed suit. Gillette also announced a moratorium on animal tests after PETA’s 10-year campaign. PETA now lists hundreds of companies that do not test on animals. Because the Food and Drug Administration does not require animal testing for beauty products, PETA continues to put pressure on other cosmetics and personal-care product companies to go cruelty-free.

For information about recent campaigns and investigations, click on the links below.

Animals Used in Testing

· Consumer Product Companies
· Environmental Organizations
· International Organizations
· Pet-Food Companies
· U.S. Government

Animals Used in Education

Animals Used in Research

· Animal Research Industry
· Colleges/Universities
· Health Charities

Back to Top