Tuesday September 30, 2008, 11:55 am
We wrote to the institutions listed below to share the results of our investigation into the laboratory/animal dealer that they—along with Iams and Menu Foods—were doing business with. We asked the manufacturers of dog and cat foods and ingredients to stop using laboratories to conduct experiments on animals and, instead, to rely on laboratory analysis of formulas for information about nutritional composition and to use dogs and cats whose human companions have volunteered to monitor them at home for palatability studies.

American Dehydrated Foods, Inc.

Applied Food Biotechnology, Inc.

Becton Dickinson

Bioreclamation, Inc.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Elanco Animal Health

Georgia Institute of Technology

Isto Technologies, Inc.

Jersey Calhoun Veterinary Hospital

Kansas State University

Memphis Zoo

Merck & Company, Inc.

MPI Research, Inc.

Nestlé Purina PetCare
NOBEX Corporation

Nutro Products, Inc.

Pfizer

StelSys, LLC

TASER International

Unigene Laboratories, Inc.

University of Cincinnati

University of Missouri-Columbia

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Washington University

W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 2:18 pm
And on THIS VERY PAGE...an IAMS AD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 2:56 pm
This is why they are offering a $5.00 coupon. No one is buying from them. They can keep their bloody food. Thanks Brenda.

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 3:53 pm
Noted and thanks for the article Brenda. This cruelty to animals is despicable and must be stopped. I wrote to Iams regarding this shameful cruelty and this copy below is the response I received, that I shared immediately on Care2.

From: Iams Customer Service
Date: 09/19/08 03:59:44
Subject: A message from Katie at Iams


Thank you for contacting us.



Unfortunately, there is inaccurate, misleading, and out-of-date information circulating on the Internet regarding our feeding studies, and I'm glad you've given me the opportunity to provide you with the facts. We too are passionate about cats and dogs, with a deep commitment to their health and welfare. So we understand how important this issue is to you.



We are accountable for making sure that our products are wholesome, and that consumers can feed them with confidence. Instead of contracting other companies to conduct our feeding studies, we prefer to conduct such studies in the homes of our employee families. Today, over 600 employee families participate in our in-home testing program.



Even though the vast majority of our studies are conducted in an in-home setting, there are some studies that require in-depth data gathering in a more controlled environment. We do this type of feeding study in our company-owned Pet Health and Nutrition Center. These studies follow our industry leading research protocol and are the veterinary equivalent of nutritional or medical studies acceptable on people. The studies are monitored by our own staff of veterinarians, behaviorists and independent experts.



Our Pet Health and Nutrition Center is a state-of-the-art facility. Our dogs and cats live in a cageless environment, receiving proper socialization in an enriched setting.



Because dogs are pack animals, our dogs are housed with a companion. Each kennel has a doggie-door that takes them to an outside run, giving them lots of room for running and playing. Each dog is provided with his or her own toys (rotated on a regular basis) and their very own comfortable bed to sleep on. There is also a dog park adjacent to the kennels where the dogs play and interact each day in play groups.



Our cats are housed in compatible social groups. Each room is furnished with beds, toys (to stimulate play) and several perches, which allow our cats to observe things from a higher viewpoint. Each cat room also has a very large window with a platform where our cats can lay in the sun or watch the birds feeding at the outside bird feeders.



All of our dogs and cats reach a point in their life when it's time to leave the Pet Health and Nutrition Center. That is when they are either adopted into a home or placed into our retirement facility. Either way, they will live out their lives in comfort with good food, good companionship, and good veterinary care.



In 2007 we had several members of the news media tour our facility. Their reports are available at:

http://www.iamstruth.com/iamstruth/en_US/jhtmls/landing/IT_Landing_Page.jhtml?li=en_US&pti=PP



If you are interested in reading more, please visit www.IamsTruth.com.



Thank you for taking the time to read this message. If you need further information or have specific questions, please contact us at 800-525-4267. We're very happy to speak with you about this very important issue.



Sincerely,

Katie

Iams Pet Care Team Member

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 5:18 pm
My 2nd message above has been incorrectly inserted here by a glitch in Care2 and will possibly disappear as others have. It was regarding the response to my letter to Orange County about 'Phoenix' the Boxer Dog and his treatment at their shelter.

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 6:35 pm
Bronwyn...this is the standard 'canned/form' letter response from good ol'Katie from Iams!!! This 'doll' has sends me the same lines each time I write to them to express my HORROR with their company!!

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 8:30 pm
noted

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 8:48 pm
They both SUCK and have been awful for years......we need to educate the general public(commercial food buyers) to the etrocities these 2 horrific companies are "churning out" at the expence of the precious animals.....WTF!

Wednesday October 1, 2008, 3:05 am
This is a standard letter we all received many times.
Their newest answer:
http://www.iamstruth.com/iamstruth/en_US/jhtmls/landing/IT_Landing_Page.jhtml?li=en_US&pti=WO

Learn the truth about Iams from the perspectives of the most respected authorities in animal welfare - organizations that work directly to improve the lives of dogs and cats.

American Animal Hospital Association

American Kennel Club

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

American Veterinary Medical Association

Animal Medical Center

Canadian Federation of Humane Societies

Canine Companions for Independence

Foundation for Biomedical Research

Humane Society of the United States

The Kennel Club

National Animal Interest Alliance

Verbatim Comments from Consumers

The dogs and cats pictured on this site are participating in Iams feeding studies or are former study pets who have been adopted by employees.

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http://www.iamstruth.com/iamstruth/en_US/jhtmls/article/IT_Article_Page.jhtml?li=en_US&pti=RP&articleID=6

Get the Iams Facts

April 02, 2005 Update: Iams statement on Daily Dental Care™ Studies

Feb. 05, 2005 Update: See Iams response to University of Mississippi dental inquiry

Dec. 02, 2004 Update: See Iams Response to University of Georgia and University of Kentucky Study Inquiries

Nov. 19, 2004 Update: See Iams Response to Purdue University Study Inquiry

Oct. 11, 2004 Update: See Iams Response to an Auburn beable study rumor

An animal rights organization is making misleading allegations about feeding studies performed for The Iams Company at an external facility that we left in early 2003. These allegations not only are old, but also are highly sensationalized and laced with untruths.

Here are the facts about Iams:

FACT: Posing as an animal lover, an activist "undercover investigator" was hired for an Iams-funded role in the contract facility. She had responsibility for the socialization and enrichment of the dogs participating in Iams' feeding studies, and was paid to develop and implement a program to ensure that these dogs were well cared for. Rather than focusing on her assignment she captured video not of the scenes of the socialization and enrichment activities she was being paid to develop and deliver, but of dogs and cats that were housed in the same facility but not a part of Iams studies.

FACT: Iams doesn't kill dogs or cats! It's against the animal studies policy that has been in place for years.

FACT: Iams does not authorize the debarking of any dogs.

FACT: Iams has an industry-leading global animal studies policy that ensures the care and welfare of every dog and cat participating in our feeding studies.

FACT: Iams is committed to the ultimate elimination of laboratory feeding studies as scientifically valid alternatives become available -and we are actively using, developing and seeking alternatives!

FACT: Iams takes full responsibility for the destiny of each and every dog and cat participating in our feeding studies, a program established as of July, 2003. Dogs and cats are adopted into loving homes after they stop working with Iams or they retire with Iams.

FACT: Iams is a company full of pet lovers who dedicate their lives to helping dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives. We see this in the more than 30 million pets worldwide who annually thrive on the innovative nutrition of The Iams Company.

Click here to download a printer-friendly version of this document. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view and download this file. If you do not have the reader, you can download it here.

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I have contacted the Humane Society of the United States on their website, but uptill now I did not receive any response from them, so I will try again. And when you do too, maybe HSUS are more willing to give us feed-back.

I also have a letter written in Dutch, dated December 2003, where IAMS have rescued 19 dogs from a lab and as they said "rehome" them, after a television program with a video-film about the torturing of these dogs by IAMS!! in the Netherlands. IAMS is telling in this letter, that they were "shocked", finding out that these animals were mistreatened, abused... But when you ask them: were are these dogs? Were are their new homes? You only get silence...!!

So, you don't have to believe PETA...because the abuse by IAMS is true!!

Wednesday October 1, 2008, 3:32 am
Sorry: Thanks Brenda!

Wednesday October 1, 2008, 4:35 pm
noted