You guys have inspired me to start a new blog in which I am researching controversial topics in veterinary medicine.

My first post is about Iams and the allegations of animal cruelty. I was surprised by what I found!

Is it true that Iams was charged with cruelty to animals?

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Very interesting Dr Marie, I too believe newspapers quite often exaggerate, it is always based on truth but it may only be an iota instead of alot....Jill

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(Justice was not served for Lyle)(Value of a Human life by the Canadian Justice system 835 days)

That is interesting. I think you can probably discount 110 percent of what PETA say. I have read some of their farming rants and they are so much rubbish. In fact everything I have read from PETA that I actually know the facts of are total lies so I assume that it all is. It is a shame because it needs someone to do what they purport to do, but it has to be done honestly and truthfully.

Thats interesting but I think the fact that is missed here is that if people are concerned about testing on animals, then Iams are owned by P&G, which are not exactly the pillar of ethical behaviour!!!

Apart from that, I have been looking into the nutritional qualities of many dog foods lately to find something for my pup with a food allergy and I wouldnt class Iams as one of the better brands ingredients-wise - although admitedly it is probably better than the monster that is...Hills Science Plan!!! Which my own vet continuously pushes!!

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Very interesting reading, thanks for that. Though I already tend to discount anything that comes out of PETA's mouth, but I do take notice if the same thing comes from other non extreme sources.

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very interesting reading...

one point though leaves me a bit disconcerted...

if IAMs had an economic loss from sensationalist press surely would have pressed charges against it (P&C and other large corporation in the same sector are well known for defending their sources of income, no matter how small they are, very fiercely)...

BUT pressing charges means that a further thorough investigation (including financial scrutiny of the holding/subsidiaries and participation/stake-share holdings) would have been necessary and if some connection would have been found that the claim against the sensationalist press would have been dismissed and IAMS (or P&C) would have been found at least in concurrence (if not totally responsible)...

unfortunately i see a lot of these cases when analysing holdings... and this precise situation (although conceding the benefit of the doubt to P&C) seems to come under this case...
in my opinion a further investigation in the accounting and the ownership books (which are publicly available, by law, for plc enterprises) should shed more light on the facts...

best
d

dimkaz, I wondered the same thing - why didn't Iams press charges against PETA?

However, I think it may have been a business decision. I'm guessing Iams wanted to avoid more bad publicity. Also, I would be that taking on PETA's lawyers would not be an easy task, even if you were innocent.

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Hello!

I work for The Iams Company and thought I would take a moment to jump in here. Thank you Dr. Marie for taking the time to research and write such an informative blog post! We too are passionate about cats and dogs, with a deep commitment to their health and welfare. I would just like to follow-up with more information.

We recently invited bloggers to visit The Iams Company as well as our Pet Health & Nutrition Center. To read in their own words what they have to say, please see:

On Caster:
Animal Testing’s Happy Healthy Test Subjects

On Dogster:
Some of Your Iams Questions are Answered

You can also see what Dr. Hansen VP of the ASPCA says at:
YouTube - Iams Animal Welfare Advisory Board

Today, more than 70% of the animal taste testers are family pets living in private homes. For the studies that require a more controlled environment, we use our company-owned, state-of-the-art Pet Health & Nutrition Center. Our dogs and cats live in cageless environments, which are very different from what is portrayed in the video. You can read more about our Pet Health & Nutrition Center at Animal Care, pet food, and pet products from IAMS

We are often asked why we don’t sue PETA over their allegations against us. The mission of the Iams Company is to enhance the well being of more dogs and cats through nutrition. The amount of time, money and resources it would take to pursue this would not align with our mission and benefit the nutrition of cats and dogs. We would rather use our resources to further pet well being.

I hope this information has been helpful!

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Jenifer, RVT
The Iams Company

is it possible to see the sentence (or the agreement) in its entirety mentioned in the blog (with all the notes and all the annexes) and the full holding's tree from P&G to the Iams to the company used for the outsourcing? including any share/stock holding <5%???

i personally don't believe that your explanation is true (mine it is just my opinion and it doesn't really matter)... with the understanding that i am not condemning/absolving the company for anything (not my place, not my role...) but it would be crystal clear if those documents were to be made available...