Nike Says It Will Stop Testing Shoes on Animals
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main image: Depositphotos.com
Nike announced today that it would phase out animal testing this year, Dumb Runner has learned, apparently bowing to pressure from animal rights groups.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to stop using mice, rabbits, and other animals in our product testing,” the company said in a statement.
“Though we have always prided ourselves on the ethical and compassionate treatment of the animals used in our labs,” the statement continued, “rapid advances in technology, including computer modeling, have rendered those methods unnecessary—and, in fact, cost prohibitive.”
“We thank our critters for their service.”
The apparel and footwear giant, based in Beaverton, Oregon, has tested its running shoes on animals nearly since its creation in 1964, when it was known as Blue Ribbon Sports; early photographs show founders Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight fitting a guinea pig with tiny Nike Waffle Trainers before placing it on a treadmill.
Decades of animal testing would follow—including, in one notorious case, forcing a chimpanzee in 2008 to run a half-marathon in a pair of prototype Zoom Streaks. Leaked video of that test sparked outrage among activists and consumers alike.
Those same activists today welcomed Nike’s announcement—with a caveat.
“While we applaud Nike’s decision to end its cruel practice of forcing animals to wear its shoes in the name of ‘testing,’ we wish it had come much, much earlier,” said Jeffrey Goines, leader of Armée des Douze Singes, a Montreal-based animal advocacy organization. “As usual in a capitalist society, it seems the only thing that prompts a company to do the right thing is the bottom line.”
A Nike spokesperson told Dumb Runner that the animals currently in its labs—thought to number in the dozens—would either be adopted by employees or euthanized.
“Depends on how cute they are,” the spokesperson said. “Some of them, frankly, are in pretty rough shape by now.”
