Two major March of Dimes sponsors have just announced their unwillingness to support the charity's use of animals in experiments. PepsiCo Corporation and Sara Lee Corporation have decided to restrict their March of Dimes donations to ensure funds are spent on relevant, human-based research and education programs.

With large corporate sponsors taking a stand against animal experiments, we are encouraged that other companies will follow their lead and adopt similar policies. As the list of sponsors refusing to support animal experiments grows, the March of Dimes will be forced to respond to increasing criticism of its practices. One experiment caused brain damage in baby ferrets before freezing them. Another involved inducing the premature birth of lambs, followed by the deliberate infliction of lung injury. Then there are the infamous experiments in which researchers, funded by the March of Dimes, sewed kittens' eyelids shut, leaving them blind for months before finally killing them. Other grantees have spent donors' money on nicotine experiments, sometimes in conjunction with the tobacco industry.

PCRM members have played an instrumental role in educating sponsors and the public about the March of Dimes' shocking animal experiments. In the spring, volunteers across the United States once again distributed leaflets at the charity's largest fundraising events—WalkAmerica—informing participants that much needed funds are continually diverted away from the kinds of birth defects prevention programs that have been proven beneficial. Activists have also made a big impression on companies that sponsor the March of Dimes by signing petitions and sending letters to local and national offices.

By keeping up the pressure, we can convince other companies to make more responsible choices in their charitable giving, as Sara Lee and PepsiCo have done. Please contact your local March of Dimes sponsors or write to any national sponsors listed on our Web site (www.pcrm.org), asking them to support charities that serve people without harming animals. At the very least, ask them to do as other corporate sponsors have done and restrict their March of Dimes donations to nonanimal research purposes only.