For Immediate Release
December 19, 2006
POM WONDERFUL JUICE CONTAMINATED BY ANIMAL RIGHTS MILITIA
Campaign Against Animal-Testing Company Escalates
Los Angeles: A communiqué received by the North American Animal Liberation Press office claims that four hundred and eighty seven bottles of POM Wonderful Juice have been contaminated on the Eastern seaboard of the United States. According to the anonymous statement, “those who drink the contaminated juice won’t die like the animals in pom labs, but the diarrhea, vomiting and headaches will hopefully send a strong message that people will no longer allow innocent defenseless animals to be tormented and killed for a health juice “. Calls to POM about intended actions to protect its customers have not been returned.
POM Wonderful Inc. has been steeped in controversy ever since People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) discovered that the health juice company was using animals to test pomegranate juice in oxygen deprivation studies in newborn mice. The company also has severed the arteries of rabbits to study erectile dysfunction. PETA has asked POM to join Naked Juice Company and others who do not test on animals.
Animal rights activists in Los Angeles, where POM Wonderful is based, have engaged in demonstrations in the neighborhoods of the top executives of the company, including the company’s owners Stewart and Lynda Resnick. During one of several pickets, the husband of one POM executive wielded a fireplace poker at activists, and at another, activists were assaulted by neighbors. Local Santa Monica police refused to arrest those who assaulted the activists, even though it was videotaped, instead choosing to confiscate the recorded evidence.
Several activists have been served with restraining orders by POM, and criminal charges have been filed for using a bullhorn. A web site called www.PomKills.com , created by a local activist, was taken down when POM Wonderful’s legal team put pressure on the server host. On October 31 st of this year, Santa Monica Police Lt. Beautz obtained a fraudulent search warrant, which the Press Office has obtained, allowing the unlawful search and seizure at seven homes of local activists.