VENTURA : Rights Group Protests GM’s Killing of Animals

About 25 members of a Ventura-based animal rights group on Sunday protested General Motors Corp.’s killing of thousands of dogs, pigs and other small creatures in auto-safety tests.

At an afternoon gathering outside the Ventura County Government Center, members of Animal Emancipation Inc. said the giant American car manufacturer should find another way of testing its products.

“They’re the only car manufacturer that uses animals,” group member Richard Abbott said.

“Everyone else uses dummies.”

GM officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

But in an interview in September, spokesman Don Postma said the company maintained only a small amount of animal testing.

In the past decade, he said, about 19,000 animals were killed in testing, mostly mice and rats.

He said the creatures suffered no pain because they were anesthetized before crash tests and then killed before they regained consciousness.

“There is no way to justify this kind of testing,” group member Mary Jane Branch said.

“They should make their cars safer through other means.”

Abbott said Animal Emancipation Inc., formed several years ago, has about 100 active members and stages half a dozen demonstrations a year against companies that use animals in tests.