Puppies, kittens, dogs, and cats in Iams commercials are shown having the time of their lives, bounding across fields, playing with people, batting at toys, and gobbling down Iams food. The ad tagline says "Iams: Good for Life." PETA's nine month investigation into an Iams laboratory puts a big question mark on all that.

While Iams and its parent company, Procter & Gamble, put out a pretty ad, what goes on behind the scenes is pretty…ugly. How Iams treats animals in laboratory nutritional tests should outrage and depress the most even-tempered and cheerful caring consumer.

Here's what Iams and P&G promised PETA and the animals back in October 2001 just days after they flew to our offices: "We will strengthen our protocols to include very specific instructions for pain management and socialization, with our goal being to eliminate even minor pain and create enriched environments for the dogs and cats." Iams and P&G then revised Iams’ research policy stating: “We will ensure the humane treatment of cats and dogs, and provide for animal well-being, socialization and husbandry in a manner compatible with the company’s philosophy, creating a total culture of care. We will not fund or participate in any study requiring or resulting in the euthanasia of cats or dogs. We will only conduct research that is equivalent to nutritional or medical studies acceptable on people…. Research will be closely monitored at internal and external facilities – with the goal being to eliminate even minor pain or discomfort and to create enriched environments for the cats and dogs involved.” Click here to read excerpts from correspondence between PETA and Iams (pay particular attention to Iams’ May 10, 2002 letter telling us how good their animals have it) regarding the use of animals in nutritional testing and the entire Iams Company Research Policy.

So what’s it really like in an Iams research laboratory? We’ll tell you….