i never hear anything about pedigree

Ok, you've told me its bad food, but again GIVE ME PROOF! My dogz are healthy, with shiny, beautiful coats, and all they eat is IAMS. So give me proof that overrules my proof of 5 healthy happy dogs, and then maybe ill look into other foods more. You say the ingerdients are crap, but my dogs are thriving on it, so they are oviously ok for dogs to eat, otherwise, youd think they would be sick, or have dull coats, or SOMTHING.

All it takes to figure it out is doing some research and being willing to learn. We've been through this with you before; the information is readily available if you care enough to look.

The testing issues alone would be enough to make me boycott Iams/Eukanuba. It was a profitable sales item at the pet supply store I patronize, but they discontinued all lines from the company and posted their reasons for ditching them. They've had very positive response from customers and I myself have overheard customers telling them how much improved their pets are since switching from the Iams/Eukanuba products to some that are actually premium foods - not just carrying a premium price tag.

Personally, I don't like feeling like a sucker for paying a premium price for a food that isn't premium at all. You'd be as well off feeding a much cheaper food - even Purina or Pedigree products - as paying the extra for something manufactured from essentially the same quality ingredients.

I wish we could get NaturaPet here - it's good to know that there are companies out there thinking about the actual animals and not just profit.

Apathy like this is the single most dangerous cancer in our society.

Renee, Thank Dog. See how rumors get started...I can't even remember where I heard or read that other dogs foods use Iams lab. This is one reason I never say any thing to a customer unless I am 100% sure and I have it down in writing from a reputable source. The tongue is mightier than a sword.

That's rich, after calling the OP (who does seem to enjoy needling the anti-IAMS faction) cold-hearted. If you want a discussion rather than a conflict, don't call names.

Ok,get the facts straight. The original poster was not Bageldog. I was referring to b.d when I said that. She knows of the torment being held in such factories, yet she buys their food. That to me is cold-hearted.

I don't see how she can knowingly support animal abusers either.

Ok, lets look at it this way. She seems to still be young, living with her parents. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she has NO choice in the food she feeds her dogs? Yeah, I would stick up for myself too if someone was trying to put me down. I mean she has numerous dogs that are ALL doing fine on Iams, no health problems, why should she change? I mean if the dogs are obviously living a good life on this food what would be the point of changing when she has older dogs, most of them on Iams for their whole life? She obviously knows what was going on at the testing sites, she knows the ingredients, and she knows how everyone feels. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE! People should be free to feed their dogs whatever they choose and not have to worry about the harrassment of others becasue the food isn't "as nutritional" as theirs. Her dogs are surviving, and by the looks of the picture, are healthy. I thought this thread was about Pedigree anyway. Why does every thread here have to start an arguement?

Ideas collide and people(including me) are passionate about dogs. I dont know, maybe its just me but I still find it hard to believe someone willingly supports cruelty. I'll leave it alone only for the fact that this is a forum and nothing I say will change her mind.

All I have to say about Iams is I don't feed my dogs the stuff. I did but I found Eagle Pack and Innova and they are doing MUCH better on it. Their coats are beautiful and they have really clean teeth.

I hear nothing but praise from innova users, which is why I've decided to switch. The best food I could find was Purina until I did some research. I found a place that sells innova, and I'm switching Peanut's diet for the sake of her immediate and long term health.

Again, I think Mordy says it best on her site:

Hope you don't mind Mordy!

Well, yes, she probably doesn't have a say in what her dogs eat - she's only fifteen, am I correct? - but I don't see why she's supporting animal abuse knowingly, and praising them online. But I guess at least she's feeding her dogs. I personally would never feed IAMS though.

just to go into a little more detail on animal testing in regards to pet food - we have to differentiate between two very different kinds of testing:

1. feeding trials (AAFCO protocol):
these are not mandatory, a pet food manufacturer can get their food AAFCO approved in two different ways, 1. feeding trials or 2. lab testing to assure the food meets the required nutrient profile (you can read more here, scroll down to "Nutritional Adequacy Statement"). the only things involved with feeding trials are regular medical checkups and the dogs not eating anything but the food that's being tested for 6 months. the circumstances of these feeding trials are up to the manufacturer, they can keep their own dogs in kennels at a facility or work with breeders. theoretically they could ask dog owners like you and me to participate in a feeding trial, as long as we'd agree to feed nothing but the food that's being tested.

2. other testing:
some manufacturers do testing that is not necessary at all for pet food. they take animals and purposely damage internal organs (e.g. kidneys) or induce other illnesses artificially, only to test the effect of a particular food product on these health problems. in my opinion that is nothing but cruel, since greed and convenience are the only reasons that keep these manufacturers from doing clinical testing on animals that already suffer from certain health issues. there is no reason at all that they couldn't enlist the help of people who own animals who are treated for particular problems, and i am sure they wouldn't have any trouble at all recruiting them if they spent some of their million-dollar advertising budget - especially not in the days of TV and internet.

procter & gamble, who bought up the iams company a few years ago, has a bad reputation for unnecessary animal experiments and backtracking on promises to reduce and end such testing where it is not needed. they make big claims about spending lots of money to research viable testing alternatives and not doing invasive testing for pet food that would end in the test animals being euthanized. reality is that they have never come forward with any tangible proof whatsoever that these claims are true. on the contrary, animals from iams testing facilities have been sold to other labs after testing was finished, where more tests were performed on them and then they were killed. so yes, technically P&G/iams are not responsible for the deaths of these animals, but indirectly they are. another big gripe of mine is that iams claims test animals are adopted out or placed into a "retirement center", yet i have never heard of a single person who has adopted a former iams test animal and media has been denied access to this "retirement facility" to this day. so my question is, how bad are the conditions in this retirement center, and in what kind of shape are the animals if they have to deny access to this facility to anyone who could possibly reveal what's really going on there?

Well I'm 14 and I make sure that I get a say in EVERYTHING that Peanut is involved with. It's the owner's responsibility to have a say in what goes on in their dogs life.

Well that's good. If only other kids could have that option. Luckily I do, too, and my Mom is all for putting the girls on the best food we can afford.

Lucky us.lol

Julie, thank you, your a great person. And your right, I have no say in what my dogs are fed. I just know there healthy and happy, and that IAMS isnt crap oviously, or my dogs would have had a lot more food related problems.

I tried to tell my mom that, even showed her the IAMS cruelty site, but she doesnt believe it, and doesnt see the need to change food if our dogs are doing as good as they are, and I agree. Why fix what isnt broken?

I can understand that point of view. It's just that, if it can add even one year of life for your dog to feed something better, isn't it worth it? I wouldn't call IAMS crap either, because it doesn't make dogs sick, and it's still much better than some of the crap they eat outside, but I still decided to get something better, just in case.