Oslo: Caged ‘Cats’ And ‘Dogs’ In Protest Howl Over Cruel Iams Experiments

PETA Wants Multinational Corporation to Stop Hurting, Killing Animals in Dog- and Cat- Food Tests

For Immediate Release:
14 January 2005

Contact:
Yvonne Taylor +44 20 7357 9229, ext 405
Dawn Carr +44 20 7357 9229, ext 224

Oslo – Dressed in prisoner suits and cat and dog masks, activists will cram themselves into cages to illustrate the misery of animals neglected and killed in crude tests conducted by Procter & Gamble-owned pet-food company Iams, which also manufactures Eukanuba-brand pet foods. Concerned members of PETA will hold signs reading, “Stop Iams Animal Tests”, while one activist shows footage of the cruel conditions found inside an Iams contract laboratory.

Date:  Monday, 17 January
Time:  12 noon sharp
Place:  Egertorget

A whistleblower at a laboratory in Austria reported that dogs used by a vivisector whose salary is reportedly funded by Iams are regularly kicked and beaten and that many become psychotic from confinement to small, barren, concrete cells for up to seven years. Other Iams activities are equally deplorable: A PETA undercover investigation in the U.S. revealed highly abusive conditions at an Iams contract laboratory. At least 27 dogs were killed, while others died of illnesses that went untreated, despite assurances from Iams that no animal in any Iams test would ever be deliberately killed. PETA’s investigator also found the following:

• Dogs indefinitely confined to small cages in dungeon-like rooms
• Dogs whose vocal cords had been surgically cut out so that they couldn’t bark
• Dogs suffering from untreated ear infections, rotten teeth and injured paws
• Workers’ reports of a live kitten who had been washed down a drain
• Terrified, unsocialised animals cowering in their cages
• Kennels that were stifling during summer months and near freezing in winter
• Dogs force-fed vegetable oil through tubes inserted down their throats

Feeling intense pressure from consumers over its use of contract laboratories to test its dog and cat foods, Iams recently announced that it will pull out of all contract and university facilities by October 2006. But the company plans to double the size of its own laboratory in the US and will continue to conduct experiments on animals in laboratories – despite the fact that these tests are not necessary or required by law.

“Iams is cruelly experimenting on dogs and cats while feeding its customers a line of fiction about caring for animals”, says PETA Director Dawn Carr. “New pet foods should be tested at home, not on lonely dog and cat prisoners in secret laboratories.”

Broadcast-quality footage of animals in an Iams contract laboratory will be available on site. For more information, please visit IamsCruelty.com.

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