Hello-
I am in Consumer Relations at Iams. We have an ethical responsibility to assure our products are safe and wholesome by feeding them to dogs and cats.
An animal rights organization continues to make misleading allegations about feeding studies performed for us 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.
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.
We do not fund studies that require the loss of life of cats or dogs. We conduct studies in just three kinds of locations: pet owners' homes, our Pet Health & Nutrition Center and locations where dogs and cats are already living (e.g. assistance dog organizations, kennels, etc). We test our foods with healthy pet cats or dogs in their homes or with pets who already have specific diseases or conditions.
There was a thread here recently that I posted to:
Was Iams charged with cruelty to animals?
And you can read Dr. Marie's article regarding Iams here:
Is it true that Iams has been charged with cruelty to animals?
Further details regarding our feeding studies can be found at
Animal Care, pet food, and pet products from IAMS.
We also recently invited bloggers to tour our Pet Health & Nutrition Center. You can also see eye-witness accounts at:
Animal Testing’s Happy Healthy Test Subjects
Some of Your Iams Questions are Answered.
I hope that this has been helpful!
Jenifer, RVT