American Anti-Vivisection Society
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Frequently Asked Questions
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F.A.Q.


Q. What is the mission of the American Anti-Vivisection Society?
A. The mission of AAVS is to unequivocally oppose and work to end experiments on animals and oppose all forms of cruelty to animals.
Q. How do I contact AAVS?
A. E-mail us at aavs@aavs.org, or write to us at 801 Old York Rd, Suite 204, Jenkintown, PA 19046. Our toll-free phone number is (800)SAY-AAVS.
Q. What is vivisection?
A. Vivisection is the act of cutting into, dissecting, or injuring animals for purposes of scientific investigation. The term ‘vivisection’ is also used to broadly describe animal experimentation.
Q. What is the Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals (the Standard)?
A. This is an internationally recognized non-animal-testing Standard that is the highest level of assurance that a personal care, household, or cosmetic product is completely cruelty-free. To sign onto the Standard and to be listed in the Compassionate Shopping Guide, a company must prove, in accordance with the Standard, that it's products and ingredients are not tested on animals. These commitments are renewed annually.
Q. What are the alternatives to animal testing?
A. Examples of non-animal methods include the use of pre-existing data; physical and chemical analysis; mathematical and computer models; in vitro (in glass) systems using human cell, tissue, and organ cultures; epidemiology; post-marketing surveillance; human and veterinary clinical research; and human volunteers.

These methods are frequently chosen not only because they do not involve animals, but also because they are the most precise and sophisticated methods available.
Q. What should I do if I have evidence of the mistreatment of animals used in research, testing, or education?
A. These concerns should be communicated directly to the facility's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. If the facility involved receives federal funding, you should also contact the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare at the National Institutes of Health. In addition, if the incident involves species covered by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), you should also contact the United States Department of Agriculture.

If the incident involves animals who are not covered by the AWA (for example, birds, rats, and mice bred for use in research) and the research is not funded by the National Institutes of Health, you can look into state or local anti-cruelty laws that may apply.
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