Tell Iams and Procter & Gamble to Improve Lives of Test...

April 30, 2003

Tell Iams and Procter & Gamble to Improve Lives of Test Animals

2 Sample Letters

Source: PETA's Spring 2003 issue of Animal Times

When Procter & Gamble bought Iams, it inherited a history of cruel,

lethal tests on dogs and cats at the pet food company's nutritional

trial laboratories. The tests ranged from cutting kidneys out of

animals to breaking bones to making them obese and then starving them

to study liver damage. Eager to head off a public relations

nightmare, a P & G vice president and Iams representative flew to PETA

headquarters to discuss improvements.

Iams boasted of the many wonderful perks that dogs and cats in its

Dayton, Ohio, facility enjoy â€“ outdoor exercise, natural light from

windows, grooming, one-on-one human contact, toys galore, beds in

individual kennels and even eventual adoption. It sounded good â€“

perhaps too good to be true?

We asked Iams to pull all its research together into its own

laboratory because the company couldn't possibly monitor animals

hundreds of miles away in laboratories. Iams refused, claiming that

this would be " too expensive, " but assured us that it would demand

that every one of its contract labs provide treatment for the dogs

and cats equal to or better than its own.

SAMPLE LETTER #1: Remember to include your name and address and

please CHANGE some of the words, personalizing the first sentence

with something about yourself, about why you are writing.

==============================================================================

=======================================================TO:

Mr. Jeffrey P. Ansell, President

Iams Company

7250 Poe Ave.

Dayton, OH 45414-5801

Tel: 1-800-675-3849

Fax: 937-898-7387

Email: jeffansell (iams.com)

Mr. A.G. Lafley, CEO

Procter & Gamble Co

1 Procter & Gamble Plz

Cincinnati, OH 45202

Tel: 1-800-543-1745

Managing Director,

Iams UK Ltd.

Procter & Gamble

The Heights

Brooklands

Weybridge

Surrey KT13 OXP

UK

Tel: 0116 282 1000

Mr. Bill Miller, Director of Sales

Iams Canada

920 Gana Ct.

Mississauga, ON L5S 1Z4

Canada

Tel: 1-800-387-4258

Fax: 905-565-4711

RE: Consolidate Animal Testing at Dayton and Enrich the Animals'

Lives Beyond Just a Prison Cell, Physical Discomfort and Boredom

Gentlemen:

As a previous Iams customer, I am shocked to learn of the conditions

under which animals are suffering so that you can invent a new flavor

of cat or dog food or determine how soon surgically induced wounds

can heal and diet-induced diseases can heal when put on a diet of

Iams kibble.

When PETA investigators discovered dogs and cats living alone in

cramped cement cages without toys, a soft bed, or companionship with

others of their own kind, workers promised to eliminate even minor

pain and create enriched environments for the dogs and cats. Yet

nearly a year later, the cages are equally dark, dank and barren.

There are no windows in any of the buildings, caregivers pay little

attention to the animals and the living quarters were stiflingly ot

in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. One Iams

representative toured this facility and saw dogs circling endlessly

on the cement and saw dogs so unsocialized that they cringed in the

corners of their cages. Another Iams representative who visited saw

isolated animals, dogs barking madly for attention, animals in wet

cages, and dogs being " exercised " on wet, feces-covered floors.

Â· Furthermore, in violation of government regulations requiring

sterile surgical conditions, sixty dogs had chunks of muscle cut out

of their thighs and were then dumped together on cement floor to

recover. Shortly after surgery, two of these dogs were found dead in

their cages. Within three months, 27 of these dogs had been destroyed

despite Iams' policy that states: " We will not fund of participate in

any study requiring or resulting in the euthanasia of cats or dogs. "

Â· Many dogs had their vocal chords cut, an invasive procedure,

even though Iams promised it would not do anything to the animals

that wouldn't be done to hmans in nutritional tests.

Â· Iams dogs who were placed in tiny metal " metabolic " cages

with slatted floors often suffered from tender footpads and their

legs often became trapped between the slats, causing panic and pain.

Â· A cat who died after not eating for three days apparently

received no veterinary treatment.

Â· Iams bought 49 Labrador retrievers from a U.S. Dept of

Agriculture Class B dealer for a long-term strength study involving

the use of treadmills and weights. An Iams veterinarian saw that one

of the dogs had given birth to a litter of puppies and that she had

nothing but concrete on which to lie while nursing the pups but did

nothing.

Â· One building was so dark and dungeon-like that our

investigator had to leave the door open just to see the dogs.

I certainly do not intend to buy Iams products while they are tested

on other cats and dogs who suffer the stress, loneliness, and pain

caused by your wasteful experiments. At a very minimum you must

consolidate all animal testing at your Dayton facility and do

everything possible to make the lives of these animals amount to more

than just a prison cell full of physical discomfort, boredom and

isolation.

SAMPLE LETTER #2: Remember to include your name and address and

please CHANGE some of the words, personalizing the first sentence

with something about yourself, about why you are writing.

==============================================================================

=======================================================

Pet Food Institute

2025 M St., NW; #800

Washington, DC 20036

Tel: 202-367-1120

Fax: 202-367-2120

Email: pfi (dc.sba.com)

RE: Set Industrywide Standards to Significantly Improve the Quality

of Life for Animals used in Nutritional Studies

I am appalled to learn of the I am shocked to learn of the conditions

under which animals are suffering so that a manufacturer can invent

a new flavor of cat or dog food or determine how soon surgically

induced wounds can heal and diet-induced diseases can heal when put

on a diet of Brand X kibble.

When PETA investigators discovered dogs and cats kept in an Iams test

site living alone in cramped cement cages without toys, a soft bed,

or companionship with others of their own kind, workers promised to

eliminate even minor pain and create enriched environments for the

dogs and cats. Yet nearly a year later, the cages are equally dark,

dank and barren. There are no windows in any of the buildings,

caregivers pay little attention to the animals and the living

quarters were stiflingly hot in the summer and freezing cold in the

winter. One Iams representative toured this facility and saw dogs

circling endlessly on the cement and saw dogs so unsocialized that

they cringed in the corners of their cages. Another Iams

representative who visited saw isolated animals, dogs barking madly

for attention, animals in wet cages, and dogs being " exercised " on

wet, feces-covered floors.