Dear Mr. Ansell,

My name is Joelyn Miller. I am only seventeen years old, so I'm sure that anything I have to say will not affect someone of your executive stature. However, I will still speak in hopes you have a heart. I would like to thank you for making your e-mail address available to anyone who wishes to speak to you. I would also like to thank you for making me realize why I will never purchase another IAMS product for as long as I live. My family will not, my friends will not, and I hope any sane and rational human being with a heart won't. Until, you stop unnecessarily testing your products on defenseless animals.

I'm also well aware that you have recieved many letters asking you to stop the cruelty. However, I will still speak in hopes you have a heart. In hopes that you realize that the testing you authorize and oversee is inhumane and morally disturbing.

Currently my family of four has eight cats. We go through a twenty pound bag of IAMS usually per week. If calculated that's approximately $1,000 a year we contribute to your company's annual earnings. Well this will cease because as I said, my family, friends, and hopefully any sane and rational human will stop purchasing your products until you realize the unnecessary pain you are causing all the animals you test, the people who have to read about it, and most importantly the consumers you attempt to provide the best for.

Thank you for your time and reading this. Joelyn Miller

Dear Joelyn:

On behalf of Iams president, Jeffrey P. Ansell, thank you for your passionate and eloquent message. Please know that even though Jeff is not personally answering your message, he has read it. We sincerely appreciate that you have fed your eight cats Iams products over the years and we appreciate the opportunity to update you on the events that inspired your message.

On March 25, we learned that nutritional studies being conducted for us at an independent facility in the U.S. may have violated our company's strict research policy. On March 26, we completed an unannounced visit of the facility to review procedures and ensure the well-being of dogs and cats at the site. Then on March 27, we made the decision to end all research activities with this facility.

We moved quickly following the visit to the research facility. Although the facility recently passed government inspections (USDA, FDA and the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care), it did not meet our high standards for dog and cat care. As Jeff Ansell has stated, "We believe our research policy represents industry-leading standards of care. These standards are high and they must be met."

We are working with the facility to relocate 19 metabolism study dogs to an Iams-owned facility where they will be well cared for and placed in our pet adoption program. In addition, we have launched a full and immediate review of all independent research facilities used by Iams for our pet nutrition studies.

We conduct and sponsor research designed to advance scientific understanding of how superior nutrition can enhance pet health and well-being. We only conduct research with dogs and cats that is equivalent to nutritional or medical studies acceptable on people. We make our decisions based on the well-being of the dogs and cats, and based on compliance with our research policy.

If you would like to read about our research policy in more detail, it is posted on our website at: www.iamsco.com (access this document through the horizontal navigation bar by clicking onto News/Stories).

We are deeply committed to dog and cat well-being and our research policy reflects that.

Thank you again for contacting us with your feedback, and for giving us the opportunity to respond. We hope you will share this message with your friends and family.

Sincerely,
Cindy Achor
Group Manager
Iams Consumer Care