Pamela Anderson Rejects Ice Bucket Challenge For Surprising Reason


Pamela Anderson admits the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that has swept through the Internet is creative, and she says she enjoys a good dare. But the former Baywatch star refuses to jump on the trend because of the cruel testing on animals used in ALS research.

Pamela described in graphic detail what she was protesting against:

“Recent experiments funded by the ALS Association, mice had holes drilled into their skulls, were inflicted with crippling illnesses, and were forced to run on an inclined treadmill until they collapsed from exhaustion. Monkeys had chemicals injected into their brains and backs and were later killed and dissected.”

As a result, Pamela Anderson is challenging people to seek out charities that don’t harm animals using the HumaneSeal.org website as reference. Ms. Anderson’s argument is not limited to details of animal experiments. Citing the FDA, the actress explains that 92 out of ever 100 medical treatments that work on animals do not work on humans, while numerous other testing methods exist, such as “vitro methods, advanced computer-modeling techniques, and studies with human volunteers, among others.”

Ms. Anderson goes on to explain:

“Trying to cure human diseases by relying on outdated and ineffective animal experiments isn’t only cruel—it’s a grave disservice to people who desperately need cures.”

Pamela’s case is a compelling one, although some of the claims on her Facebook explanation are somewhat misleading. The FDA statistic originally comes from a 2004 FDA report that says of phase 1 testing:

“Currently, a striking feature of this path is the difficulty, at any point, of predicting ultimate success with a novel candidate. For example, a new medicinal compound entering Phase 1 testing, often representing the culmination of upwards of a decade of preclinical screening and evaluation, is estimated to have only an 8 percent chance of reaching the market.”

Naturally, animal testing is part of phase one testing for many products, but there are plenty of non-animal related phase 1 research that also fails to get into the successful 8%.

Nevertheless, the Pamela Anderson’s message reflects the views of many that are fighting to end animal testing.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the ALS ice bucket challenge was inspired to raise awareness ALS and support research into future treatments and cures. The challenge requires participants to dump a bucket of ice water on their head and challenge three new people to do the same.

The full Facebook message from Pamela Anderson can be found here.

[Image Source: Fred Prouser/Reuters]

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