Tag: Iams

PETA Actually Donates to A Small Number of Animal Shelters

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently awarded grants of $1,500 to 15 animal shelters around the country. What did these shelters have to do to be recipients of PETA’s largesse? They each are boycotting Iams pet food because of PETA’s allegations that Iams relies on “painful and often deadly laboratory tests on dogs, cats, and other animals.”

PETA’s Mary Beth Sweetland told The Lake City Report (Florida),

Nearly 100 shelters have decided to boycott Iams after learning about the company’s cruel and unnecessary tests on animals. Iams uses its profits to create misery for dogs and cats, but these shelters need funds for their vital work of protecting animals from harm.

Iams spokesman Kurt Iverson responded by saying that PETA is,

. . . spreading a lot of untruths and sensationalized stories. The story that they are telling is based on a facility we used two years ago and that we no longer use. They also don’t tell you that the person that was gathering their video footage was the person Iams was paying to take care of those dogs and cats.

Source:

PETA donates $1,500 to local animal shelter. Justin Lang, Lake City Reporter (Florida), January 27, 2005.

Iams to End Outside Animal Tests and Expand Its Own Internal Animal Testing Facilities

Iams, which has been targeted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over conditions at testing labs it contracts to, announced in October that within two years it would end all testing contracts without outside laboratories. Instead, the pet food company will more than double its own animal testing facilities from 350 cats and dogs to more than 800 cats and dogs by the end of 2005.

That represents a victory of sorts for PETA which had included among its demands that Iams end all contracted animal testing, but its a bit of a pyrrhic one. The animal rights organization had been able to gain a lot of publicity on the backs of the contracted labs, especially when Iams ended up funding an animal welfare specialist at a Missouri lab who turned out to be a PETA mole. Now that Iams is essentially going to do the same amount of testing internally, it should prove more difficult for PETA to get those attention grabbing headlines.

PETA’s Mary Beth Sweetland said of the change,

I think Iams has to prove itself to us. Yes, this is part of what PETA wants. But that said, Iams has lied to us in the past. The question is, is Iams going to commit to ending testing on all animals? The expansion of that Dayton facility means more testing.

PETA sponsored a resolution at the annual shareholder meeting of Procter & Gamble, which owns Iams, calling on Iams to end all animal testing, but the measure was overwhelmingly defeated.

PETA’s Allison Ezell told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “P&G should make Iams move out of the laboratory completely, because it’s the right thing to do.”

Sources:

Iams division to change animal testing practices. Associated Press, October 7, 2004.

Iams bringing animal tests inside. Cliff Peale, Cincinnati Enquirer, October 7, 2004.

Lafley to stockholders: Few problems at P&G. Cliff Peale, Cincinnati Enquirer, October 13, 2004.

PETA to Send Dog Excrement to Iams

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals this week announced that it would send dog excrement to Iams to protest the pet food company’s continuing use of animal tests.

In a press release, PETA said,

Taking a page from the “flaming bags of dog poop” book of practical jokes, PETA members will clean up dog “business” at a local dog park and raise a stink about Iams abuse of dogs and cats by sending it to the pet-food maker in bags marked “IamsÂ’ Animal Tests Stink” as an unmistakable statement that the companyÂ’s cruel laboratory experiments stink

Just one question — how will Iams tell the difference between dog excrement and the normal crap that PETA sends it in letters, flyers and press releases?

Source:

‘Poop Bags’ Spoofing Iams Dog-Food Bags Marked ‘Iams’ Animal Tests Stink’. Press Release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, August 27, 2004.

Chrissie Hynde Leaves Message for P&G Employees

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals somehow got list of about 13,000 Proctor & Gamble phone numbers and in July left all of them a voice mail message recorded by Chrissie Hynde.

In the voice mail message, Hynde said,

Don’t think these tests [performed by P&G-owned Iams] are necessary or required by law. They aren’t. Other companies test in other ways.

For some reason, Hynde left out her final solution to the animal testing problem,

The last resort is for someone to go in and actually take these guys out. Maybe it will have to be an out-and-out assassination. When no one will listen anymore, then individuals have to take the law into their own hands and it can get very ugly.

And trust me — Hynde and PETA are certainly experts when it comes to ugliness, both moral and otherwise.

Source:

Hello P&G? It’s Chrissie. The Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio), July 8, 2004.

Iams Ends Sponsorship of HSUS' Petfest

In April the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance announced that Iams had sent it a letter saying that the company had severed its relationship with the Humane Society of the United States.

The USSA quoted a letter from Kelly Vanasse, Associate Director, External Relations, that said,

We want to inform you and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance that the Iams Company is officially announcing that we are not funding the Petfest American events with the HSUS again next year. We appreciate the feedback we have received from the sporting dog community and apologize for the frustration that this sponsorship has caused.

USSA president Bud Pidgeon said in the press release that,

We are very pleased that Iams has seen the light about this situation. It was a very difficult situation for this company that has been a good supporter of sporting dog events and for those groups accepting the sponsorship dollars. These sporting dog groups were perplexed at the companies’ support of the largest anti-hunting group in the country.

Source:

Iams Pulls Sponsorship of Animal Rights Events. Press Release, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, April 27, 2004.

This Is Your Brain on PETA Press Releases

On April 22, 2004, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a press release that began with this,

El Monte, Calif. — In recognition of World Week for Animals in Laboratories, PETA members, joined by barking canine companions and waving signs that read, “Iams: Stop Torturing Animals,” will hold a “snarl-in” in El Monte in an effort to persuade people to leave Iams pet food on store shelves until the company stops conducting tests on animals in laboratories. The protest is part of PETAÂ’s international campaign against Dayton, Ohio-based Iams, which was launched last summer after years of failed negotiations:

Date: Friday, April 23
Time: 12 noon
Place: House of Pets, 3836 N. Peck St., at Ramona intersection

There was just one slight problem — according to the owner of the House of Pets, her store has never carried Iams products.

Rather than admit that PETA made a mistake (like that doesn’t happen constantly), PETA spokeswoman Allison Ezell tried to spin the group’s protest when contacted by the Pasadena Star News. According to the Star News, Ezell told its reporter that “the snarl-in would be a positive event in support of the store.”

Sources:

PETA to unleash activists in protest. Jason Kosareff, Pasadena Star News, April 22, 2004.

PETA Holds “Snarl-In” In El Monte. Jason Kosareff, Pasadena Star News, April 22, 2004.