Los Angeles: Actress Pamela Anderson has refused to take the Ice Bucket Challenge, benefiting the ALS Association.
Celebrities like Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise and Mickey Rourke took the challenge, which aims at creating awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, but the former “Baywatch” star begs to differ.
She admits that she “enjoys a good dare,” and even acknowledged the creativity of the charity campaign, but the animal rights advocate says she can’t support an organisation that does testing on animals, reports people.com.
She took to the social networking sit Facebook to share her views.
“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,” the 47-year-old wrote, citing recent tests reportedly funded by the group.
Such experiments, she claims, have led to just one ALS treatment that works in humans – and only marginally well.
“Trying to cure human diseases by relying on outdated and ineffective animal experiments isn’t only cruel – it’s a grave disservice to people who desperately need cures,” Anderson posted.
And so, she issues a different kind of challenge to friends and fans.
“Please help scientists make real progress toward treating and curing human diseases by visiting HumaneSeal.org to find and support charities that never harm animals and which pour their time and resources into advanced, promising, human-relevant cures.”