AS A nation of animal lovers, most people would be horrified to learn that millions of animals are killed in experiments funded by British health charities.

One such charity, the British Heart Foundation, has bankrolled a litany of experiments using cats and dogs. In one experiment, dogs' blood vessels and nerves were cut away, the dogs were implanted with electrodes and injected with other dogs' blood. This was done to determine how blood is stored in the liver, although researchers acknowledge that dogs and humans store their blood in different ways.

Like so many other animal experiments, this one not only caused the death and suffering of animals but bore no relation to human disease. In fact, over the years, animal tests have often led scientists in the wrong direction, this setting back medical progress.

Thankfully, there are dozens of forward-thinking health charities that fund humane, modern and effective non-animal research - such as human cell and tissue cultures, complex computer modelling and scanning techniques and human epidemiological studies - as well as administering care to people who are already sick.

Please write to PETA at the address below for a free health charity guide. You can ensure that your next donation to a health charity is put to good use funding humane research to prevent and cure diseases, all without hurting a living being.

Andrew Butler

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

PO Box 3169

London SW18 4WJ