Earlier this year, PETA India contacted Air India to urge the company to stop transporting animals to laboratories to be used in experiments. After a face-to-face meeting, Air India told us in writing that it would refuse requests to transport animals to laboratories. But now, because of pressure from animal experimenters, Air India has backtracked on the ban and resumed shipping animals for use in cruel laboratory experiments.



What kind of experiments are we talking about? In one recent experiment in India, male beagles had their legs cut open so that transmitters could be inserted into them, had tubes forced into their penises and were repeatedly injected with experimental drugs. Young dogs in Indian laboratories are commonly poisoned to death in toxicity tests after being force-fed chemicals for months on end.

Many leading international airlines have full or partial restrictions on shipping animals to laboratories. Just among the International Air Transportation Association's list of the world's 10 largest cargo carriers, FedEx, UPS, Cathay Pacific, Korean Airlines and EVA Air prohibit any shipments of animals for experiments; Emirates, Singapore and China Airlines won't ship primates to laboratories; and Lufthansa has banned shipments of cats, dogs and primates destined for laboratories. Please tell Air India you won't fly with the airline so long as it transports animals for use in experiments and urge authorities to bring back the ban now.