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News Release

DOGS HOME FACING PROTEST OVER IAMS

Manchester Dogs Home (MDH) has failed to respond to requests from Uncaged Campaigns and many of our supporters who have urged MDH to remove vivisecting pet food company IAMS as sponsors of the 12th Annual Sponsored Dog Walk in aid of the Home, due to take place on Sunday 12 May 2002 between 10am and 4pm at Debdale Park, Hyde Road, Gorton, Manchester.

IAMS has been supporting and participating in hundreds of laboratory experiments performed on cats and dogs at several North American universities. Many of the experiments, involving, for example:

• the infliction of kidney failure;
• the insertions of tubes into the intestines in invasive procedures ending in the killing of animals;
• making animals obese;
• making animals severely allergic, causing severe diarrhoea, and stomach
  and skin inflammation

clearly caused suffering and were sometimes lethal. Research has also been
sponsored in countries such as Hungary. Since September 1999, IAMS and its
fellow brand EUKANUBA have been owned by notorious animal testing corporation Procter & Gamble. Uncaged Campaigns spearheads a global consumer boycott of P&G in protest at its cruel animal experimentation practices. The Sixth Annual Global Boycott P&G Day is happening on Saturday 25th May 2002.

Uncaged Campaigns has written to MDH on three occasions over the last six months, and supplied MDH with evidence of IAMS gruesome experiments on dogs and other animals (see www.uncaged.co.uk/iams.htm). MDH has not replied to any of our correspondence and has maintained its relationship with IAMS & P&G. Now, unless MDH comes to its senses at the last minute, Uncaged Campaigns have been left with no choice but to stage an educational protest at IAMS' sponsorship of the MDH Dog Walk this forthcoming Sunday.

Dan Lyons, director of Uncaged Campaigns, explains the purpose of the
protest:

"We'll be there simply to expose the truth about IAMS and P&G, and to blow the whistle on what amounts to a cynical public relations stunt. We won't be disrupting the event because we support the work of Manchester Dogs Home, though we are extremely concerned about how the Home has handled this issue.

"The promotion of a company with a track record of cruelty to dogs is a fundamental error on the part of the Home. There are hundreds, if not thousands of potential alternative sponsors. The Management of the Home needs to take a long, hard look at its policies and procedures. If the reputation of the Home is damaged, then it has to accept the blame for prostituting its good name to a corporation whose conduct is diametrically at odds with the founding principles of Manchester Dogs Home."

The educational protest, with banners, animal costumes, petitions, leaflets and evidence of IAMS' cruelty, will take place from 10am to 2pm at the event on Sunday 12 May 2002. If you would like to come along and educate the dog walkers about IAMS and P&G's vivisection practices, please ensure you contact Uncaged Campaigns on 0114 283 1155 or, during the weekend, 07799 117694, to check the protest is still on.

Urgent Action

• Contact Brian Railton at Manchester Dogs Home to complain about their promotion of IAMS - email webmaster@dogshome.net, phone 0161 205 7136/2205, or write to Brian Railton, Manchester Dogs Home, Crofter's House, Moss Brook Road, Church Lane, Harpurhey, Manchester, M9 5PG.
• If MDH fail to dump IAMS, please participate in the educational protest on Sunday 12 May 2002 at Debdale Park - contact Uncaged Campaigns or watch this space to see how the campaign develops.
• Write letters of protest to the Manchester Evening News - email
  postbag@men-news.co.uk.

Related links:

• IAMS index
• IAMS exposé
• Global Boycott P&G
• Support for the campaign
• Pet food information sheet

Uncaged Campaigns 09.05.02

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