Monday, January 17th 11:30am-1:00 pm
at Forest Park city park 4501 SW 20th Avenue - Gainesville Alachua County, Fla. — Alachua County residents and pet professionals are joining an International boycott of Iams pet food company by telling the multi-billion dollar pet food giant that they will not purchase, sell, or recommend Iams pet food until the company makes some big changes in their animal research program. A.C.T (Alachua County Together) Against Iams Cruelty, a county-wide initiative to inform pet lovers that the Iams pet food company is cruel to dogs and cats, is holding a demonstration Monday January 17th 11:30-1:00pm at the Forest Park city park 4501 SW 20th Avenue in Gainesville. Iams, an Ohio based company owned by Proctor & Gamble, makes Iams and Eukanuba pet food brands which are sold in several pet stores, grocery stores, and veterinary clinics in Alachua County. With signs, banners, handout literature, and a large laboratory cage exhibit, demonstrators hope to send the message to passersby that they can help save the Iams dogs and cats by refusing to purchase any Iams products until the company puts and end to their cruel research practices. A.C.T coordinators are anticipating a large turnout for Monday's demonstration. "People are outraged" says Susan Vought, A.C.T website coordinator, "for a pet food company to torture and kill dogs and cats is just appalling and the anger is across-the-board." Among those expected to attend the demonstration are local veterinarians, pet store owners, pet adoption groups, and many of the Alachua County residents and pet professionals who have already joined the boycott by adding their signatures and comments to the A.C.T boycott website. The website, www.actagainstiams.com was created locally as a venue for outraged pet lovers to communicate their feelings to the Iams company. Also attending will be members from the Alachua County Humane Society and Animal Activists of Alachua. Representatives from PETA (People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals) are flying into Gainesville from the organization's headquarters to join and help coordinate the demonstration. "Our ultimate goal is to persuade Iams to end their laboratory testing altogether" says Joy Drawdy, owner of Earth Pets Natural Pet Market in Gainesville. "I will be there (at the demonstration) because I know the pet food industry and I know that what Iams is doing is unnecessary testing. The pet industry is built on compassionate principles and Iams should be a leader in this, instead they are perpetrators of abuse. Animals do not have to suffer and die to make good pet food." * For nearly 10 months in 2002 and early 2003, a PETA (People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals) investigator went undercover at an Iams contract testing laboratory and discovered a dark and sordid secret beneath the wholesome image of the pet food manufacturer. Among the findings: - Dogs left piled on a filthy paint-chipped floor after having chunks of muscle hacked from their thighs
- Twenty-seven dogs were deliberately killed following invasive surgeries
- Dogs and cats indefinitely confined to small cages in dungeon-like rooms
- Dogs' vocal chords 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 was washed down a drain
- Terrified, unsocialized animals cowering in tiny cages
- Kennels that were stifling during summer months and near freezing in winter
- Dogs being force-fed vegetable oil through tubes inserted down their throats
- Horribly sick dogs and cats languishing in their cages, neglected and left to suffer with no veterinary care To view signatures and comments from Alachua County residents boycotting Iams go to: http://www.actagainstiams.com. To view video, photos, and documents from the investigation go to: http://www.iamscruelty.com For more information contact Joy Drawdy 352-375-6779 or 352-281-4974 | 
