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PETA wrote to the Sierra Club to determine its position on the use of animals in chemical poisoning tests and to solicit its endorsement of a statement:

• Calling on EPA to increase its funding and use of non-animal test methods
• Endorsing the use of only those new test methods that have been rigorously assessed by the Interagency Coordinating Committee for the Validation of Alternative Methods and found to be scientifically valid

On March 29, 2001, Sierra Club past-president Robbie Cox provided the following response to PETA’s letter:

"The Sierra Club has no position on animal-testing. We neither endorse nor reject the PETA statement regarding this issue."

On September 20, 2007, the Sierra Club—along with the Natural Resources Defense Council and other organizations—petitioned the EPA to require manufacturers to conduct short-term and long-term toxicity experiments on animals for air fresheners. These experiments would have required confining animals to gas chambers; squeezing them into inhalation tubes; or restraining them with breathing apparatuses over their mouths, forcing them to breathe in air fresheners and their ingredients. Fortunately, the EPA agreed with PETA's formal comments and denied the petition, sparing thousands of animals!

PETA sent a letter to Robbie Cox, president of the Sierra Club, on November 8, 2007, urging the Sierra Club to reconsider its endorsement and lobbying for animal testing.

On March 31, 2008, we received a reply from the Sierra Club's deputy executive director, Bruce Hamilton, stating:

"The Sierra Club continues to have no position on animal testing. … We regret that the original petition specifically requested that animal testing be undertaken. Our petition was denied, and in our follow up lawsuit there is no mention of requesting or requiring animal testing."

Although PETA was concerned that the lawsuit could still be interpreted to include animal testing, we have since received assurances from the Sierra Club that if it goes forward, it will first be amended to specifically exclude animal testing. Thanks in part to your letters, the Sierra Club did the right thing by dropping animal testing and asking instead for data reporting and labeling requirements!

What You Can Do

Please send polite letters thanking the Sierra Club for dropping animal testing from its follow-up lawsuit and urging the organization to take a stand against animal testing.

Send letters to:

Bruce Hamilton
Deputy Executive Director
Sierra Club
85 Second St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
bruce.hamilton@sierraclub.org