KYS,

I believe the question about Iams severing ties with "bad"
lab testers is covered here in Whats going on with the dogs
now? segment.


Why Iams?: Frequently Asked Questions
What’s Wrong With Iams?

For nearly 10 months, PETA conducted an undercover investigation in an Iams contract laboratory. What our investigator witnessed and was able to capture on hidden camera would outrage any animal lover: dogs gone crazy from confinement to barren steel-and-cement cells, dogs left on a paint-chipped floor after having their vocal chords severed and part of their leg muscles hacked out; dogs who were sweltering in scorching heat and shivering in bitter cold; horribly sick dogs and cats languishing in their cages, neglected and left to suffer with no veterinary care. The dogs and cats in Iams’ tests are no different from our dogs and cats at home when it comes to deserving companionship, play, a stimulating environment, and the right not to be tormented in painful experiments.

But doesn’t Iams have to continue research and development in order to create better foods and improve the health of dogs? They can’t stop testing altogether, can they?

We are calling on Iams to rely on non-animal, laboratory analysis and in-home tests using dogs and cats whose human companions have volunteered them for such tests. Right now, dogs and cats are suffering endlessly in concrete cells with no chance for exercise or stimulation just so that Iams can slap new claims onto its products and maintain its market share. It’s all about marketing. If Iams officials cared about the health and happiness of our companion animals, they would end this unnecessary testing immediately. They’ve proved that all they care about is profit.

But what about the fact that Iams claims on its Web site that it meets and even exceeds federal regulations?

Iams lied to PETA repeatedly with promises to improve living conditions for the dogs in contract labs. Our investigation took place more than a year after Iams had promised to “raise the bar” on animal-welfare standards in its contract facilities and even assured us that enrichment programs were already in place, but our investigator knew better. At least 27 dogs were destroyed while other dogs had illnesses left untreated despite assurances in the Iams research policy, which specifically states that no animal in any Iams test will ever be deliberately killed.

Our video footage shows Iams representatives touring the facility and witnessing dogs’ endless circling in barren cells in the sweltering heat. Iams officials knew the truth yet they lied. How can they be trusted to act in the best interests of the animals at this point? Our investigator fought for six months to have a single cheap, rubber toy placed in each dog’s cell. This is Iams’ idea of “enrichment.” Once animal lovers become aware that they are financing the confinement and mutilation of dogs and cats, they simply won’t buy Iams food or propaganda.

What’s going on with the dogs now?

After considerable pressure from PETA, Iams finally agreed to have the dogs from this particular laboratory removed. We’ve been informed by Iams officials that the dogs are now in an Iams facility in Dayton, which they have refused to let us see. We have no idea whether the dogs are in a better situation now than they were before. We are continuing to press Iams to let us see the facility and urging the company to adopt the dogs out to loving homes, but until we have a confirmation from Iams that this has happened, we will assume otherwise.

Why should we believe you and not Iams?

Videotape doesn’t lie. See the abuse for yourself here. Procter & Gamble, Iams’ parent company, has a long history of wanton cruelty to animals. After years of pressure to eliminate cruel product testing on animals, the company continues to torture rabbits, ferrets, and many other animals in its skin- and eye-irritancy experiments for cosmetics. P&G spends more money on advertising in five days than it has spent on developing alternatives to animal testing in the last 14 years. That’s a bad record for a company that claims to care about animals.

Why are you targeting Iams specifically? Don’t most major brands test on animals in laboratories?

Iams claims to be a leader in the pet food industry. We’re asking the company to act like one. As a major food producer, its pioneering choice to end laboratory testing on animals would serve as an example of progress in the industry and would begin a truly “new and improved” era in pet food, not just a minor change at the animals’ expense.

A list of forward-thinking companion-animal food companies that have stopped or never conducted tests on animals in laboratories can be found on our Web site IamsCruelty.com.

Aren’t you against all animal testing, even for human medical research?

Animal testing has never been a necessary, safe, or effective way to conduct medical research. The case of Iams is particularly outrageous because these dogs are confined to barren steel-and-cement cells in all weather extremes and made to undergo invasive surgery just to test dog and cat food.

Animal lovers wouldn’t sacrifice their own animal companions’ welfare to benefit other animals, and they don’t want to subject dogs and cats just like theirs to cruel and unnecessary experimentation. We’re talking about dog and cat food here. The truth is, this continued experimentation is about nothing more than Iams’ pocketbook.