Group Will Pass Out "Poop Bags" to Fill With "Doggy Doo" and Send to Iams

For Immediate Release:
March 12, 2004

Contact:
Allison Ezell 757-622-7382

Washington — Passing out doggy-doo disposal bags that parody Iams food bags and read, "Iamsodead," and waving signs that read, "Iams’ Animal Tests Stink," PETA members will protest outside a performance of the Iams-sponsored Superdogs International. PETA will ask attendees to fill the bags with their own dogs’ "business" and send them to Iams as an unmistakable statement that Iams needs to get out of the animal-experimentation business because its animal-testing policies stink. The protest is part of PETA’s international campaign against Iams:

Date: Sunday, March 14
Time: 12 noon–1 p.m.
Place: MCI Center, 601 F St. N.W.

A recent PETA undercover investigation revealed deplorable 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 found the following:

* Terrified dogs and cats confined to small, barren cages, some for up to six years
* Dogs whose vocal cords had been surgically cut out so that they couldn’t bark
* Dogs with untreated ear infections and rotten teeth, as well as injured paws from having to balance on metal-slatted cages and lie on cold cement
* Workers’ reports of a live kitten who was washed down a drain
* Kennels that were stifling during summer months and near freezing in winter
* Dogs being force-fed vegetable oil through tubes inserted down their throats

In June, PETA filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Iams and its parent company, Procter & Gamble, for making allegedly false claims on the Iams Web site regarding the care provided to the cats and dogs used in the company’s research.

"We’re howling mad that Iams is causing misery and death for dogs and cats while feeding its customers a line of fiction," says PETA Senior Vice President Mary Beth Sweetland. "Dogs and cats shouldn’t be forced to suffer for Iams’ profits."

Broadcast-quality footage of animals in an Iams contract laboratory is available. For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site IamsCruelty.com.