'Pet' Foods and Animal Testing Policies - Vote now!

I was talking to someone at the park today, whilst walking my dogs, about raw feeding which i do, but was suprised to here about the lack of knowledge of pet foods tested on animals, they were horrified by what i told them and went off to look into it .
I was just wondering if this was one of a very few, who are not aware? and also your thoughts on this?
I have included some info below from uncaged on the matter

Thanks and looking forward to hearing your views.
Gemma

'Pet' Foods and Animal Testing Policies
The companion animal food industry has become big business in recent years. The market is currently dominated by international corporations - such as Procter & Gamble, the makers of IAMS and Eukanuba - who ruthlessly conduct experiments on animals to try to give their pet food a competitive marketing edge.

Slick advertising campaigns that promote a caring image obscure a reality of suffering and exploitation. However, as these cruel and unethical practices are being exposed through the work of Uncaged and others, decent animal guardians are seeking out responsible companies who produce pet food without cruel and unethical testing regimes.

Uncaged is determined to work with other animal protection groups to persuade the companion animal food industry to clean up its act. Uncaged supports and promotes the BUAV's new No Animal Testing Pet Food Standard. For companies to qualify, they have to prove that neither they nor their suppliers are engaged in animal testing that harms animals: that means no invasive laboratory experiments or keeping animals in captive laboratory or kennel conditions for lengthy periods of time - conditions that cannot fulfil their physical and psychological needs.

Many animal food companies issue unreliable and incomplete statements regarding their testing practices and the conduct of their suppliers. You can therefore be assured that this recommended list of foods represents a reliable guide to non-animal tested products.


Recommended 'pet' foods
COMPANY TELEPHONE WEB/EMAIL
Arden Grange 01273 833390 enquiries@ardengrange.com
Burns 01554 890482 info@burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk
Europa Pet Foods Ltd
(Brands: Europa - please note: this is NOT Europa supermarkets)
0845 658 0987 www.europa-pet-food.co.uk
info@europa-pet-food.co.uk
Fromm Family Foods 01531 633 985 available from:
www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk
Naturediet 08700 132960 info@naturediet.co.uk
Pero Foods Ltd 0800 917 9697 www.pero-petfood.co.uk
sales@pero-petfood.co.uk
Top Number and Happidog 0800 0182955
Trophy Pet Food 01367 243434 www.trophypetfoods.co.uk
sales@trophypetfoods.co.uk
Vegecat/Vegekit 01424 427393 info@vegansociety.com

Some of these brands are available from www.veggiepets.com.


Brands to Boycott
As mentioned above, the main culprits for cruel and unethical animal testing are the major international 'pet' food businesses.

IAMS / Eukanuba owned by Procter & Gamble
Hills Science Diet owned by Colgate Palmolive
The majority of pet food brands available in the UK are produced by two animal testing companies - "Nestlé Purina/Friskies" and "Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc)."

Nestlé Purina/Friskies: Alpo, Bonio, Felix, Go Cat, Gourmet, Omega Complete, Proplan, Spillers, Vital Balance, Winalot.
Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc): Bounce, Cesar, Chappie, Frolic, James Wellbeloved, Katkins, Kitekat, Pal, Pedigree Chum, Royal Canin, Sheba, Techni-cal (US & Canada), Whiskas. Pedigree also manufacture Thomas rabbit food and Trill bird food.

NB Techni-Cal (Europe) although not owned by Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc) is still a company to boycott as they have not signed up to the BUAV No Animal Testing Standard.
So far, none of the supermarkets have pledged to produce their foods without unethical testing processes.

All the other brands of food have so far failed to sign up to the 'No Animal Testing Pet Food Standard'. This means they cannot or will not ensure that their products do not contribute to harmful systematic testing processes.

To encourage them to clean up their acts, ask them why they have not signed up to the 'No Animal Testing Pet Food Standard'. Please forward any responses to us at Uncaged.


'Pet' food content
The content of animal foods raises additional, difficult ethical issues about the use of animals. Included in our recommended lists above are vegetable-based foods and in the case of Vegecat, a supplement that provides felines with their essential nutrients that are missing from plant sources.

You may wish to visit the following websites to explore further information about natural diets for animals to help you decide what to feed your companion animals, though Uncaged does not necessarily endorse any statements therein:

www.rawmeatybones.com
www.barfworld.com

Compassionate Shopping Guide
The Compassionate Shopping Guide is a comprehensive guide to cruelty-free companies, shops and supermarkets.

To send for your copy, make a donation of £5 or more.

Related Links
IAMS index
IAMS action
IAMS exposé
Global Boycott P&G
Support for the campaign
See also:

A good site for information about natural 'pet' nutrition and health - www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/petallergies.htm
For further information about 'pet' food testing, visit the BUAV site at www.helpthedogs.org/campaigns/petfood.html




Are you supportive of our mission and methods? Have you found the information on this site useful, enlightening and/or inspiring? Is this website valuable at all? If the answer is 'yes' to any of these questions, then please make a donation to Uncaged Campaigns.

OK, I'm slightly freaked out by this, I knew that Iams was a major culprit, but I thought James Wellbeloved didn't test on animals, thats what I have been feeding my puppy, as I don't feel I know enough about raw feeding yet, but I am looking into doing it when I feel I know enough..... I'm shocked

Its very difficult i know to find the ones that dont and are readily available, one of the reasons that i went RAW.
Might be worth contacting them directly, i think this could help persuade them to stop.
Gemma

I'm aware of this and avoid anything made by Proctor and Gamble for the dogs, cats and myself

While I was researching into animal cruelty, I found a lot of companies tested on animals.

I switched my dogs diet over to CSJ and nature diet but now feed them all raw.

I know what my dogs are getting, and none of it is crap or tested on any other animal

Omg is all i can say , i have been trying in vain to feed my girls raw but they aint haven any of it so i usually give them pasta , chicken , tuna and rice etc xxdk

Mars UK have lost out bigtime with me, then! I stopped giving the dogs P/Chum because they wouldn't eat it, so I was just wasting money buying it. My two shonky sheepdogs will not eat anything that comes out of a tin - they'll eat only fresh mince (or fillet steak if they're quick enough to nick it ). Not only have Mars lost out on my dogs' food, they've lost out on me, too: diabetes means no Mars bars!

Snorri

That's why I feed Arden Grange!
Becky

I used to feed my lot Iams - until P&G bought it. I won`t buy any of their products full stop, be it Pringles or washing powder or pet food or anything else.

There are many companies which are not on the list but don`t use vivisection - not all a case of can`t meet the criteria but are either not aware of Uncaged or are simply not bothered about signing up but are still ethical companies.

One ethical firm I know of tried to sign up but was told they could`nt do so directly, it had to come via customer recommendation :smt102

What my crew are on is not tested through vivisection [ I would`nt buy it if it were ], but the company are not on the list - its always wise for people to ask because not being on the list does`nt always = unethical manufacturer

Edited to add, this part of Uncaged statement is out of date.


Asda`s stance and statement on vivisection is :

http://www.asda.co.uk/corp/customer_service/FAQs.htm

"What is your stance on animal testing?
At ASDA we are against animal testing and none of our own branded products have been tested on animals, either by ourselves or our suppliers.
"

Asda do produce a range of own brand pet foods.


Tesco`s statement :

http://www.liberation-mag.org.uk/Tesco.htm

"Tesco's Animal Testing Policy
Please let me assure you that Tesco do not conduct any testing on animals, nor do we commission any tests, or allow our product manufacturers to conduct such tests on our behalf.
We fully support elimination and alternatives to animal testing.
Our policy states, with reference to the historical testing of ingredients, and the possibility of future statutory testing on animals, that while it is a fact that some ingredients have, at some point in their development, been tested on animals, it is only to satisfy the legislation of public health and hygiene.
These tests, however, have not been carried out for or endorsed by Tesco Stores Ltd.
It is impossible for us to distinguish which products may or may not be singled out for future testing by the government, as fundamentally, all product ingredients may subject to this.
We do not have a 'fixed-cut-off-date' for discontinuing ingredients that have been tested on animals, as we do not allow our suppliers, nor do we ourselves conduct testing on animals. Therefore, we are not currently introducing new ingredients or products tested on animals.
Our suppliers are currently following our code of practice on animal testing that simply states that products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals for Tesco Stores Ltd. Furthermore, we are a major financial contributor to FRAME (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experimentation), an organisation that promotes the safe testing of products, but not on animals.
Kind regards
Kelly Smith, Customer Service Manager "

Co-Ops stance and statement :

http://www.cooponline.coop/about_campaigns_animal.html

"Co-op Campaigns

Animal welfare

1990 - Animal Testing
The Co-op announces that no Co-op Brand toiletries or household products, or their ingredients, have been tested on animals after 1985 - even though the law allowed the practice to continue. The Co-op co-sponsors with the RSPCA a Private Member's Bill to require more informative labelling for products tested on animals.

1994 - Freedom Food
The Co-op supports the development of the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme to improve the welfare standards for animals at all stages of the food chain. This leads to the introduction of a range of Co-op Brand Freedom Food products.

1995 - Egg Labelling
The Co-op is the first retailer to label eggs 'Intensively Produced' a technically illegal step, but one in the consumer's interest. This leads to a change in the law, allowing eggs to be labelled 'From Caged Hens' Co-op egg packs have changed to this wording and several other retailers have followed suit. The move is welcomed by consumers and pressure groups angry with packaging depicting idyllic farmyard scenes and describing battery eggs as 'Farm Fresh' We also identify the source of the eggs used in recipe products.

1996 - Animal Testing
The Co-op launches 'Ending the Pain' a campaign against animal testing in the toiletries industry. This includes backing FRAME, a charity dedicated to finding alternatives to animal tests. A Right to Know leaflet gives customers the animal testing policies of the manufacturers whose products are stocked in Co-op stores.

1999 - Humane Cosmetics Standard
The Co-op is the first grocery retailer to be awarded the right to use the new International Cruelty-Free symbol, developed by leading animal welfare organisations world-wide, including the BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection), on its range of Health and Beauty products. The symbol shows that the Co-op fulfils the criteria of the Humane Cosmetics Standard and is an independent endorsement of our strict non-animal testing policies. Co-op Babycare products are the first labels to introduce the symbol, which guarantees that neither the product nor its ingredients have been tested on animals after a fixed cut off date - 1985 in the case of the Co-op Brand."

With regard to the supermarkets i beleive that althogh they do not test their products directly on animals, some of the ingredients has been and that is why it is still classed as testing on animals, which it is really!
At least the few mentioned, that are ok to buy, have not had any contribution to any animal suffering, especially when there is no need.