Iams Company and Procter & Gamble Company:

Like many caring consumers, I "spoil" my companion animals with nutritionally superior food and treats. I am impressed by the Iams Company promise of health and longevity.

However, I will not purchase your products until Iams commits to a no-animal testing policy. The American Association of Feed Control Officers (AAFCO) does not legally require manufacturers to experiment on animals to earn its seal of approval.

Pet-food producers are only obligated to reveal nutritional content, which can be evaluated through chemical analysis of ingredients/mixtures and harmless in-home trials. Some companies collaborate with veterinary clinics in voluntary trials that use animals with preexisting conditions.

I understand Iams pledged various reforms after PETA's nine-month investigation of a contract laboratory — including arrangements to consolidate off-site testing within one facility by 2006. I am concerned that plans to centralize over twice as many cats and dogs inside one giant lab may inflict even more unnecessary pain and suffering.

Iams claims to now supply toys, behavior training, group play and care. Long-term caging is renamed "Lifetime Destiny" and unadoptable dogs spend their golden years in a retirement center. Some animals are reportedly adopted into loving homes.

But Iams will not release files on the number of animals used, years of confinement, authenticity of adoptions, or existence of a retirement center. Moreover, Iams does not take responsibility for its leased animals. PETA asserts hundreds of beagles were left in "the same hideous conditions we found them in. Iams said they belonged to the [contract] laboratory."

As long as Iams routinely subsidizes lab-animal tests for palatability, "discovery phase," metabolized energy, etc. I cannot in good conscience buy your goods.

Video documentation and research papers published in science journals shockingly contradict Iams' purported research policy. The policy states it will not sponsor invasive procedures or any study resulting in euthanasia of cats or dogs. Yet PETA's investigator found 60 dazed dogs with muscle chunks severed from their thighs heaped on a cold, paint-flecked floor. Two dogs died post- surgery and at least 27 were killed over the course of the experiment.

PETA's observer encountered "stir-crazy" animals restrained in steel cages or cement cells for up to six years. Although Iams vows to never conduct non-essential research, an Iams- sponsored lab director ordered techs to cut dogs' vocal cords because he had grown weary of their attention- seeking yelps. PETA's investigator notified headquarters, but Iams did not halt the superfluous debarking surgery.

I commend Iams for cutting ties with this particular laboratory. However, I fear a similar attitude of indifference will prolong misery for hundreds of cats and dogs. Over 40 companion- animal food makers rely upon a humane testing protocol. I respectfully ask the Iams Company to join them.

Thank you,