Iams Sadistic!

So picture in your head for me a small, sweet little puppy, any breed you like; maybe it's the one you had as a child, maybe it's the loyal companion that rests at your feet in the evening, maybe it's the neighbor's dog that tries to get your attention when you go outside, or maybe it's just the one you see in the pet store window. Imagine the loyalty of such a dog, the sweet nature that wants only your love and a bit of food and shelter in return. Imagine its soft fur under your fingers as you pet it and the wagging of its tail at the slightest attention from you.

Now imagine that dog living in a small compact cage with no windows to the outside. Imagine that dog never gets to go for a walk because no one cares about what happens to it. Imagine that dog standing on top of illegal slatted grating that can trap its legs if it doesn't tread lightly, grating that is illegal according to the U.S. federal Animal Welfare Act. Imagine that this dog never gets a veterinarian when it is sick. Imagine that if this dog barks its complaints, it is rewarded by getting its vocal cords slit. Now imagine that this is not just one dog, but hundreds of dogs and cats. If a dog or cat gets sick, it gets killed and ripped apart so its pieces can be sold to other companies. This is an environment in which a single rubber playtoy is too much to ask for these animals, animals no less deserving of love and compassion as that dog you imagined earlier. Now imagine that the reason this all takes place is because of a label on a bag of dog food. Now imagine that this is not your imagination and you have the animal testing laboratory for Iams products.

Where does this information come from? PETA, that's where. An undercover reporter for the PETA organization infiltrated the animal testing facility at Iams and unearthed the horrors I have just described. So in all arguments, it is only fair to mention the other side. Well, Iams has redressed this grievance with neglect and assurance that this is overblown and made up while it coldly kills puppies, kittens, dogs, and cats without regard daily. Despite their claims of not killing animals in testing, 27 of 60 dogs that were subjected to a single procedure died with two more suffering to death in their cages. You can view more details of the findings and ongoing correspondence with Iams here and here.

These dogs don't get cute names like "Sally" and "Buddy", they get numbers like HJBMCN, but who needs a name if no one calls it out? Join the boycott of Iams products and all other companies that cruelly abuse animals in their testing. Let's get the Humane Society and the ASPCA involved in this case and rally around PETA to protect our loyal furry friends. In such a civilized age, this barbarism is unwarranted and unwanted. You are the customer base from which Iams and similar companies draw their funds; cut your support of this villiany.

So to Iams I ask this: why the tight lipped response to these outrages? If you think it is a matter of big business being too busy to respond to a consumer base, take this as your evidence. My older dog has a wheat and corn allergy, so he can only eat a specific wheat-free diet. Nutro is the company that makes the food I buy for my dear boy, so I put them to the test with an e-mail requesting their policies on animal cruelty. Below is the exact letter I was sent, including the name of the representative with whom I corresponded.

Theodor,

Thank you for your shared concern regarding the issue of animal testing. Nutro has never done any invasive research of any kind.

AAFCO is the regulatory agency that monitors the manufacturing and labeling of the feed industry and they have established standards to insure the health of your pets. In order to be sure Nutro's pet foods meet these standards, Nutro does limited, strictly non-invasive, nutritional feeding studies. Tests during these studies consist of nothing more than what your personal veterinarian would routinely do for your dog or cat. This insures that Nutro can provide the highest quality pet food in the industry. Companies who do no feeding studies have no way of knowing if their foods meet the AAFCO minimum nutritional standards. That's not good enough for Nutro. Our primary concern is to insure the health and well being of the millions of dogs and cats that eat our foods every day.

We are a privately owned company serving the pet care community for over 75 years. I can safely say that over 90% of our employees are pet owners. We have been an industry leader in many of the positive changes adopted by this industry in terms of ingredients, nutrition, and ethics. We hold ourselves to a standard that is neither required nor enforced by law. We certainly respect and honor the various views of our consumers but, we do not hold specific political interest nor do we promote special interest groups.

We welcome further dialog with you on this issue. Please feel free to call us Toll Free Monday through Friday 8 AM - 5 PM at (800) 833-8330.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

At your service,

Roger H. P. Clark

It was as simple as that. All I had to do was send a single e-mail and I received a response from Nutro. Why should Iams be so different? Get your local shelters and pet supply stores to join in the boycott of Iams products using the information below.

A list of some of the atrocities and the people responsible. I urge you to contact them via e-mail and phone and voice your outrage wholeheartedly. The information in quotes is taken from the http://www.iamscruelty.com website. I will post the contact information for these individuals as I find it, and I ask you to contact me if you have any such information to share.

  • Diane Hirakawa
    Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Iams
    "In one experiment, she intentionally put 24 young dogs into kidney failure, removed their right kidneys, conducted numerous painful invasive procedures on the dogs over a matter of months, and then killed the surviving dogs."
  • Dan Carey
    Director of Technical Services, Iams
    "He once removed 31 dogs’ kidneys to increase their risk of renal damage, keeping the surviving dogs alive for 48 months to study them, then killed and dissected the dogs. In a private meeting, he referred to dogs as 'specimens.'"
  • Gregory Sunvold
    Director of Clinical Research and Intellectual Properties, Iams
    "In an Iams experiment, he surgically forced 28 cats into kidney failure. The cats either died during the experiment or were killed by Sunvold to study the effects of protein on their kidneys."
  • Gregory A. Reinhart
    Vice President, Strategic Research and Communications Research and Development Division, Iams
    "He chemically damaged 18 male beagle puppies’ kidneys, fed them experimental diets, inserted tubes into their penises, and then killed them."
  • A.J. Lepine
    Research and Development Division, Iams
    "He removed the ovaries and uteruses of 56 dogs to study the effects of beta carotene on their 'reproductive performance.'"
  • Jürgen Zentek
    Iams Chair in Clinical Nutrition
    "In one of the most gruesome experiments imaginable, he killed six healthy 6-month-old Great Dane puppies and then 'minced, lyophilized, fat extracted with light petrol, dried and ground' the puppies in order to conduct a 'total body analysis.'"

The following is the e-mail I sent to the Iams customer service contact address, for which I have not received a response:

My name is Theodor Richardson and I am a dog owner and former user of Iams dog treats.

I want to know why there are experiments such as the following going on in your company:

"In one of the most gruesome experiments imaginable, he killed six healthy 6-month-old Great Dane puppies and then 'minced, lyophilized, fat extracted with light petrol, dried and ground' the puppies in order to conduct a 'total body analysis.'"

In fact, I would like the e-mail address of Jürgen Zentek, the man responsible for this act. I want you to know that I will not be buying ANY Iams or Proctor and Gamble products as long as this testing continues. I may be one customer, but I will assure you that unless these conditions are changed, I will do my best to rally support for a complete boycott of Iams and P&G as well as Menu Foods.

I would actually be more than willing to help provide homes for the animals that you perform your testing on where you can do non-invasive testing and collect the data you need without resorting to such violence and utter lack of compassion. I have contacted other pet food companies and found this to be an effective method of gathering the necessary data without anything more invasive than a routine veterinary checkup. If you cannot change your policies to a kinder treatment of your animals, I and the people I contact will not be purchasing your products ever again.

I look forward to your correspondence.

Sincerely,
Theodor Richardson

Join the fight against animal cruelty! Join the Iams boycott!
 
First Name:
Last Initial (Full Last Name Optional):
E–mail Address (Optional):
City:
State:
Submit

What can you do right now to help?

Have an opinion to express?
I would suggest you try several outlets for your outrage. First, I have provided the contact information for the Iams and Proctor and Gamble companies as well as Menu Foods, the researchers in charge of the animals.

Next, I have provided links to the organizations you can contact for help and support. I say we push for a full investigation into Menu Foods and Iams animal conditions and research practices.

Have a dog or cat at home?
The people at PETA are compiling a scrapbook of owners and pets who are boycotting Iams products until the cruelty ends. You can help by downloading the Iams poster here and submitting your photos to PETA with instructions here. PLEASE DO NOT BUY IAMS PRODUCTS FOR YOUR DOG OR CAT UNTIL THE ANIMAL CRUELTY STOPS! You can see a list of safe companies here or follow my lead and ask your pet food supplier yourself about their animal testing practices.

Have an hour to spare?
PETA is offering free literature for you to distribute at dog parks and in pet stores and supermarkets. Get your local shelters and veterinarians to join the boycott against Iams and Menu Foods!

Have some spare change in your pocket?
You can make a donation to help free the animals subject to torture under Iams and Menu Foods on PETA's site here.

Have a website?
You can get the images displayed on this site by right-clicking on them. They come from the free literature distributed by PETA here. I have provided links below as well for you to get the pictures directly.