Feature
Test Cases
Jessica Vogelsang, DVM
The image is impossible to forget: eight beagles lying side by side on a grey floor, raising their heads uncertainly under the fluorescent lights. As the video continues, you hear the din of barks echoing off metal grates, see a hesitant cat crouched in the back of a gloomy cage, and observe a dog under anesthesia for an unknown procedure. You’re not sure exactly what you are seeing, but the mood is clear: This is bleak.
The dark and dreary nine-minute video was shot by an undercover PETA agent in 2002 at the Sinclair Research Center, an independent facility that companies contract to conduct animal research studies, in Missouri. The footage has attained legendary status in the animal welfare world for showing just how several pet food manufacturers were using Sinclair to test the effects of dog and cat kibble on animals. To this day, Iams, one of those companies, deals with daily queries about the video asking, “Why are you hurting dogs and cats in the name of making pet food?”
In the United States, most pet food has a statement from the Association of American Feed Control Officials on the label. AAFCO establishes manufacturing models and protocols that companies must adhere to. To certify that a pet food provides complete and balanced nutrition, the manufacturer must either provide a laboratory analysis showing it meets AAFCO nutritional profiles or prove the food is adequate through a feeding trial conducted over an extended period.
Because feeding trials are time-consuming and expensive, small companies rely on lab analysis to come up with their formulations.. Large brands opt for feeding trials, feeling that the method provides better proof of a food’s performance in animals. Some larger companies make their research public, allowing other pet food manufacturers to use the data to formulate their own recipes. This unofficial partnership has been in place for decades.
Since 1966, animals used in research have been protected through the Animal Welfare Act. Enforced by the US Department of Agriculture, the act sets minimum requirements for the care of research animals and stipulates that any institution that uses animals in research or instruction must establish an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), an in-house panel that reviews the organization’s research protocols for compliance with the act. It is common for an IACUC to expand upon the federal law’s minimum standards, but that isn’t always the case.
The Animal Welfare Act has undergone regular revisions since 1966. In 1985, for example, a major amendment included provisions for exercise of dogs, recognizing that physical activity and stimulation are basic canine needs. Additional amendments in 1994 and 2000 addressed cage size requirements. Even so, many animal welfare proponents argue that these minimum standards are inadequate based on current understanding of animal needs.
A decade ago, it was common procedure for pet food companies to contract research out to a third party, as Iams did with the Sinclair Research Center. Iams provided Sinclair with the protocol it was to implement and added an animal welfare specialist position to provide exercise, play, and mental stimulation to the study pets. What Sinclair did not know was that the welfare specialist was a PETA volunteer who would spend nine months filming the center’s research, which included pets undergoing spay and neuter procedures, muscle biopsies, and recovering from anesthesia — all procedures that were status quo in the industry at the time.
The public response to the video when it was released by PETA in 2003 was immediate and intense, one of the first instances of viral video on the Internet. The company was bombarded with calls for boycotts. Although Iams and Sinclair were following federal guidelines for animal welfare, it soon became apparent that consumers wanted more than the minimum for these animals. If companies like Iams wanted to stay in business, they needed to change their treatment of research animals: The animals needed to be treated like beloved pets.
“While the video was illegal, highly edited and misleading, this situation did help Iams formalize its approach to animal welfare,” says Jason Taylor, Procter & Gamble Pet Care’s manager of external relations. “This led to several interventions, namely the formation of our external Animal Welfare Advisory Board, complete transparency of our animal studies policy, and a decision to assume more control of our feeding trials by limiting the places where we do our studies.”
Later that year, Iams cut ties with Sinclair and moved all of its research to a $20 million facility in Lewisburg, Ohio. The Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center was the start of a new approach to animal research, one that replaced prison-like conditions with grassy play areas, sunlight, and real homes.
Over the next several years, Iams created its International Animal Welfare Advisory Board to come up with a way to maintain feeding trials while satisfying consumer demands for pet-friendly research protocols. They created a list of well-known animal welfare advocates and began making phone calls to people like Mike Arms, president of the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, CA and an internationally recognized expert on the topic.
“When I received the call from the Iams company informing me that they wanted to start an advisory board utilizing expertise in all fields of animal welfare, it was explained the reason they were doing this was to ensure that their pets were truly being cared for and treated humanely,” says Arms. “They have proven to have the utmost integrity; all of our requests for the enrichment of the pets’ care have been met, and at many times have proved to be very costly and difficult, and they’ve met all our expectations with sincere concern for the wellbeing of their pets.”
With the guidance of the board, Iams developed an animal study policy that encompasses the Three R’s of animal research usage: replacement of animals, when possible, with non-animal models; reduction in the number of animals used in research; and refinement of current practices to enhance research animal welfare. For example, virtual animal models have now replaced live ones in evaluating the fermentation process in food breakdown and simulating the body’s ability to utilize a particular protein.
The animal feeding trials of today bear little resemblance to those of a decade ago. Iams had decided as far back as 1999 to end all procedures that result in death with dogs and cats. Today, all testing performed on animals must have a human equivalent. For example, blood collection is acceptable, since that is a standard procedure in volunteer human clinical trials. Urine collection via needle, a standard procedure in veterinary offices but not in human medical facilities, is not. Therefore all urine is collected by the free catch method.
The goal of today’s feeding trials is twofold: to make sure a food is safe and ensure it is palatable. The latter is demonstrated using a plate split in two, with dual food offerings. The pup’s “job” is to eat the preferred food and then go on about the business of being a dog. Researchers do blood work and physical examinations and evaluate urine and feces to assess growth and health. No animals are euthanized as part of the research process.
Unlike in years past, Iams researchers no longer induce disease in test animals. Instead, if they are looking to evaluate a diet on a pet with a specific medical condition, they recruit pets that already have the disease to participate in a clinical research trial. Iams uses a network of veterinary clinics whose patients try out new diets. “Sometimes pet owners feed food to their pets, record different variables such as whether the pet liked it, did they eat all of it, etc. and send the data to us,” Taylor says. “ Other times we partner with local veterinarians and the measurements are taken in the veterinarian’s office.”
Two-thirds of animals in today’s feeding trials are pets that participate in clinical research trials modeled on the same trial methods used in human medicine. They reside at home with their owners or at facilities such as Canine Companions for Independence, where service dogs live and train. There they try out the food and their owners report back to Iams about how their pets like it. The remaining third of the research animals, about 700, reside at the 170-acre Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center.
A dog that enters the Iams center is provided with a “life plan” from day one. The goal of the program is to have a canine live half of its life — until about age six — at the center, participating in feeding trials, then retire into a private home. Based on feedback from adoptive parents, Iams brought a full-time pet behaviorist on board to create a training and socialization program that runs concurrently with the feeding trial process.
“The goals of our training and socialization program are to prepare the dogs and cats for their work at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center, but more importantly to prepare them to become adoptable,” says behavior specialist Jessica Lockhart, DVM. “ From puppy and kitten kindergarten to ongoing clicker training, simulated home environments and basic obedience training, our program aims to create happy, healthy pets that produce accurate data for our feeding trials and then retire to become family pets, living in private homes.”
These techniques were on display during a recent tour, when the Labradors in the kennels sat patiently and quietly while the visitors walked around. Taylor explained that the dogs had been trained since puppyhood, using positive reinforcement, not to bark for attention. This quiet environment reduces stress in the dogs’ lives at the facility, and the behavior also makes them more attractive to potential families when it is time for them to retire.
Iams purchases puppies from local breeders familiar with the program, who are willing to incorporate their training and socialization techniques from birth. The puppies are fostered in homes during a month of the critical early socialization period so they will be exposed to cars, strangers, and the world at large. This early training is considered a key to the dogs’ happiness in the research environment, and one of the main reasons puppies come from breeders as opposed to shelters. It is also illegal in many jurisdictions to use shelter animals for any research. After their socialization month, the puppies move full time to the Health and Nutrition Center.
The campus itself resembles a high-end boarding facility. Dogs are kenneled according to preference either singly or in pairs, with a kennel that is split between indoors and outdoors so the dogs can choose where to spend their time. The metal cages of the past have turned into 150-square-foot runs with beds, doors, toys, and windows. Dogs have daily outdoor playtime with pals, exercise equipment, and pools, and work with a trainer using positive reinforcement techniques.
When a dog approaches retirement age, it enters a transition phase with its trainer. During this period, it is introduced to a “Home Environment Room” and learns important social cues to assist with entering its adoptive homes: that one cannot jump on the couch, for instance, or how to get used to the sounds of a television, a toilet, or a vacuum cleaner.
There is no shortage of local families willing to adopt these dogs at the end of their food-tasting career. A dedicated adoption consultant at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center has the job of placing each dog with a family based on who would make a good match. Iams employees, many of whom live near the facility, adopt the majority. Iams also partners with local shelters and rescues to get the word out to the community, ensuring every retired pet gets a permanent home.
Iams is not alone in embracing progressive animal welfare policies. Both the Hills pet food company and Royal Canin, two major players in the pet food industry who also represent a large proportion of the market for prescription veterinary diets, have embraced similar policies for the use of non-invasive testing, alternatives to animal usage, and rejection of terminal studies.
Consumers want the best possible products, validated by science, but they also want to feel good about the research methodology behind that science. By recruiting experts in the field of animal welfare and re-building the testing process from the bottom up, pet food companies have made leaps and bounds in animal care policy without sacrificing the quality of their data. With those grey grainy laboratory facility images relegated to the history books, it’s finally time to breathe a sigh of relief and feed our pets with a clear conscience.
What Sinclair did not know was that the welfare specialist was a PETA volunteer who would spend nine months filming the center’s research, which included pets undergoing spay and neuter procedures, muscle biopsies, and recovering from anesthesia.
The Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center was the start of a new approach to animal research, one that replaced prison-like conditions with grassy play areas, sunlight, and real homes.
Two-thirds of animals in today’s feeding trials are pets that participate in clinical research trials modeled on the same methods used in human medicine. Many reside at home with their owners. The remaining third, about 700, reside at the 170-acre Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center.
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Testing the merchandise. A young Lab samples some food at the Iams center. Gerard Brown / Getty
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Clean kennels. In contrast to the dingy, dark setting of the Sinclair lab, the accommodations at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center in Lewisburg, Ohio, are spacious and bright.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Play room. Dogs at the Iams center spend time outdoors with pals.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Birds-eye view. The facilities at the Pet Health and Nutrition Center are state-of-the-art.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
Walkin’ the dog. Animals who participate in studies at the Iams center get plenty of exercise.
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