Subject: PETA on AIDS smear campaign
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 07:34:39 -0400

What follows are two statements issued by the People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) exposing the impetus behind the recent smear
campaign initiated by individuals from ACT UP Golden Gate and ACT UP
Washington DC.

As correctly outlined by PETA, recent protests of World Animal Awareness Week
by San Francisco AIDS establishment insiders amount to nothing more than a
concerted effort by the biomedical industry to exploit ignorant, right-wing
PWAs like Jeff Getty for their own profit-making purposes.

This misguided conservative attack on the direct action tactics of militant
animal rights activists by drug-company front men is NOT supported by ACT UP
San Francisco nor did it receive consensus from other ACT UP chapters across
the U.S. 

Members of ACT UP San Francisco join OutRage! London and Peter Tatchell,
co-founder of ACT UP London, in denouncing this frightening attack on
defenders of animal liberation.

ACT UP! FIGHT AIDS!

============

PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
P.O. Box 42516
Washington, DC 20015-0516
(301) 770-PETA
(301) 770-8969 FAX

June 20, 1996

To:       AIDS Advocates
From:   Dan Mathews
Re:       Anti-Animal hysteria

As PETA's openly gay campaigns director, I have found myself the target of an
ironic smear campaign by a vivisection trade group called Americans for
Medical Progress (AMP) that is aiming to drive a wedge between animal
advocates and AIDS activists.

I'd like to tell you about AMP's underhanded efforts and articulate PETA's
position on the use of animals in AIDS research.

In 1994, USA Today asked what I suggested to combat AIDS in place of animal
tests. Focusing first on prevention, I replied that as most of my friends are
gay, I caution them about unsafe sex by warning, "Don't get sick in the first
place, schmo." Sadly, USA Today chose to exclude the fact that I'm gay,
didn't mention prevention, and printed only the last phrase. Although I've
explained myself publicly many times, AMP continues to use that quote out of
context in ads claiming PETA will stand in the way of a cure.

PETA's primary goals are the same as those of most AIDS groups: end research
duplication, streamline drug development, and centralize vaccine studies and
drug clinical trials. I believe our advocacy for animals can only help in
these areas. However, we vehemently oppose the baboon bone marrow transplant,
as do most respected scientists, including AmFAR advisor Dr. Jonathan Allen.
Besides being scientifically flawed, the transplant alone risks another
AIDS-like viral outbreaks.

Our objection to this procedure has sent transplant recipient Jeff Getty into
the arms of AMP, which has now organized a week of PETA bashing for him. With
Getty's help, AMP is trying to distract AIDS groups away from its work to
attack PETA.

The following is information on AMP, to give you an idea of why it is they
are out for PETA's blood. Please don't let AMP hijack the AIDS community's
agenda with anti-animal hysteria.

I welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.

Kind regards,

Dan Mathews
Director of Campaigns

==========

PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
P.O. Box 42516
Washington, DC 20015-0516
(301) 770-PETA
(301) 770-8969 FAX

Americans for Medical Progress
A Front Group for U.S. Surgical

Americans for Medical Progress, Inc. (AMP) and "The Americans for Medical
Progress Educational Foundation" were formed in 1990 by executives of United
States Surgical Corporation, a company that killed almost 1,600 dogs in 1993
to demonstrate surgical equipment such as staplers. The Wall Street Journal
wrote of AMP, "But the self-styled grass-roots group neglects to tell the
public that it is, in essence, a public-relations front formed and largely
funded by U.S. Surgical Corp. The medical company, with sales of more than
$800 million a year, isn't on a quest for a cure for cancer. It uses, and
kills, a thousand dogs each year so that its customers - doctors - can
practice surgery using U.S. Surgical products."

Susan Paris, president of both organizations told Consumer Reports, "I don't
think the average person on the street knows [who funds us] but most opinion
leaders and people in the medical field know. If I'm asked, I certainly tell
them, but we don't put it on our literature."

In 1994, AMP testified before the Maryland Legislature to kill a students'
rights bill which would have made dissection for students optional.

On May 10, 1996, with no science to back its claims of necessity, AMP
testified before the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for VA, HUD, and
Independent Agencies in support of NASA's cruel and much-criticized Bion
monkey experiments. NASA has committed $33.2 million American tax dollars to
the joint project with Russia to launch grossly electrode-implanted monkeys
alone into space for 14 days even though such experiments are widely thought
to be passe.

AMP's "public information campaign" includes advertisements that attribute an
increase in human longevity to animal experiments, contrary to all medical
literature which documents the connection between human life-expectancy
increases and vast improvements in hygiene and lifestyle.

ACT UP San Francisco
1388 Haight Street, #218 / San Francisco, CA 94117
Phone: (415) 522-2907 / FAX: (415) 834-0243 / Email: [email-masked]