Volkswagen's Cruel Experiments on Birds

"Volkswagen Foundation is paying experimenters at German and U.S. universities to capture and use songbirds in worthless experiments that terrify the birds before they are ruthlessly killed for curiosity's sake. Although the use of any animal for experimentation is objectionable, the thought of birds--who are universal symbols of joy and freedom--captured, caged, terrorized, and vivisected, is particularly heinous. Birds are indeed so fragile that they often die of fright from the capture or transportation process.

These atrocious acts are taking place at the University of Oldenburg in Germany and Duke University in North Carolina. Songbirds captured from the wild and captive canaries and finches are exposed to different light cycles or are fitted with eye caps glued tightly to their heads to block out all light. Researchers then cut the birds' heads off to slice their retinas out of their eyes, and dissect and study their brains for clues to the secret of migration."

Please Take Action and send a polite message to Stefan Jacoby, VW President and CEO asking him to use his influence to earmark funds for research that does not entail the use of animals.