John,

Horseshoe crabs are fascinating prehistoric creatures who have roamed our oceans for more than 400 million years and survived all five mass extinction events. 

But now, their populations on the US East coast are collapsing – because of their *bright blue* blood that has toxin-detecting properties, applied to make sure drugs and medical devices like Covid tests are safe. Hundreds of thousands of crabs are being drained alive at an industrial scale every year – a dystopian horror show!

There is a synthetic alternative that Europe has approved years ago – but a handful of mega horseshoe crab labs are stalling the approval in the US, to keep on cashing in the profit. Let’s change that now! Sign the petition:

FDA: Stop the horseshoe crab torture – approve the synthetic alternative!

In the past, mostly family-owned businesses used to catch and harvest horseshoe crabs for their blood, often cooperating with local fishermen on the US East coast while making sure it was sustainable. 

But today, major biomedical companies are entertaining massive labs where thousands of crabs are on the drip. In 2021 alone, just five US companies harvested 700,000 horseshoe crabs! One of them, Charles River Laboratories, has even been scrutinized for how its suppliers treat animals before.

Regulations are weak, as horseshoe crabs are invertebrates and as such don’t fall under the protection of common animal welfare laws. This makes it a lucrative Wild West for these big pharmaceutical companies, who are stalling the approval of the synthetic alternative.

And it’s not only the cruel practice itself: The mass-catching and bleeding of the American horseshoe crab is already impacting coastal ecosystems in the States, affecting the cycle of the mating and spawning crabs and shorebirds who depend on them for feeding.

The chemical component in the bright blue horseshoe crab blood has saved and protected millions of human lives. Now that there is a synthetic, actually more cost-effective alternative, it’s our turn to make sure this living fossil can continue to thrive:

FDA: No more horseshoe crab torture – switch to the synthetic alternative NOW!

The Ekō community has fought for the end of mass torture of living beings many times, no matter how small: Right now, we are about to stop the first octopus torture farm off Spain's coast – and we're putting pressure on internet giant Amazon to stop selling gelatin made from brutally slaughtered donkeys. Horseshoe crabs might not be cute, but they are the oldest animal on earth that has weathered evolution and extinction events. Let's make sure they survive!