Phil in MO

For those of you that remember this past winter. It was discovered that the Iams company sponsered some HSUS run events. This is the anti-hunting/hunter group hiding behing the humane society which does a lot of good for stray animals. There was a letter and phone call campaign by the sporting dog community and a boycotte by many including myself. I first received an email expressing a rather indifferent attitude and no apology for their support for this group. Several months have passed and today I've received this email.
Phil
____________________________________________
Dear Dog Enthusiast:

You recently contacted us regarding our affiliation with the HSUS. We'd like
to thank you for taking the time to express your concern as well as update
you on a recent decision made by our organization.

The Iams Company will not be funding the Petfest America events with HSUS
again next year. We appreciate all of the direct feedback we have received
from the dog community and apologize for the frustration that this
sponsorship has caused. We have a lot of exciting innovations planned next
year, which will require our focused time and resources.

As a leader in the pet industry, The Iams Company is about educating all pet
owners on pet health care and nutrition - from the family pet to the active
competitor. We are definitely pro-dog and clearly not anti-hunting. We look
forward to continuing our long history of support of the sporting dog
community and leadership in the industry with innovative research to improve
the health and well-being of athletic dogs. We hope that we can put this
behind us and focus on the future -- great performing foods for great
performing dogs.

Iams and Eukanuba Sponsorships and Support of the Sporting Dog Community:

* AKC Master National Hunt Test
* AKC National Gun Dog Championship
* AKC Pointer National Championship
* Brittany National Amateur Championship
* Canadian National Amateur Retriever Championship
* Canadian National Retriever Championship
* ESPN Great Outdoor Games
* Eukanuba Beagle Championship
* German Wirehaired Pointer Nationals & Specialty
* GSPCA National Specialty
* National Amateur Retriever Championship
* National Bird Dog Championship
* National German Pointing Dog Championship
* National Retriever Championship
* NGSPA Championship
* Official U.S. Gun Dog Team, 2004 National Countrysports Fair,
Northern Ireland
* Vizsla Nationals & Specialty
* Weimaraner Nationals & Winter Specialty

Other facts regarding Iams and past support:

* The Iams Company is the only dog food company to support the
Armbruster Test, an international hunt test for Deutsche Drahthaars.
* The Iams Company is the only dog food company to financially support
the quail restoration project on the Ames Plantation, home to the National
Bird Dog Championship and for many years we have commissioned original oil
paintings by Ross B. Young, of the National Champion Bird Dog.
* We conducted the Iams Retriever Symposium for breeders and trainers
of retrievers and also support Team Eukanuba Seminars around the country.
* We support Quail Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Ruffed Grouse
Society, and Ducks Unlimited.
* We publish Care and Nutrition of the Sporting Dog, one of the only
manuals for hunters and field trialers.
* For over 20 years, The Iams Company has been the acknowledged leader
in nutritional research for performance dogs. We developed the only "in the
field" research study of pointing dogs and hunting performance.

Again, we appreciate you sharing your concern and for giving us the
opportunity to respond. If you need further information or have specific
questions, please contact Consumer Care at 800-525-4267. We are available
Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. If you prefer, please email us anytime!

Best regards,
Marti Hissong
Iams Consumer Care NA

Washington Hunter

I'm glad to see this! I was a bit dissapointed to hear that Iams was sponsoring such events, but now that we know for sure that they're not anti-hunting I'll be buying their products with a clear head.

Tree climber

I also sent them an e-mail expressing my disaproval with them. I did recieve an e-mail back,saying they were looking into the problem.

then today I also got the same e-mail as you just posted.
so I guess our sticking together does help some times.I was glad to hear they had a change of heart and will suport sporting dogs and there hunting events.

BillDeLuc

I also sent off an e-mail when I heard of this. I am glad to hear some good came out of the hunting dawg community's solidarity on this! We should all pat ourselves on the back!

Washington Hunter

*Pats self on back

HikeNHunter

Same thing happened here. This is proof positve that our voice can make a difference.

Doc E

You can call me cynical if you want, BUT :
There was no apology -- they merely said they wouldn't sponsor PetFestAmerica next year -- I'm guessing that they will just be funneling the $$ they spent on PetFest to HSUS in some other (more clandestine) manner. Iams affiliation with HSUS still exists.
The HSUS Vet is still on the Iams advisory board -- Iams was asked to replace the HSUS Vet (Dr. Andrew Rowan) with a "Sportsman Vet -- Iams declined to do so.

I agree that all of us contacting Iams did some good -- Iams has taken a small token step in the right direction, but this is only winning one small battle -- the war is still on.

Koontzy

I still say watch what ya buy, just because they sponser these events that correlate with hunting, doesnt mean that they still arent with HSUS, I mean look at K-mart, they had that thing where so much of the money you spent on ammo went to a anti-hunting association, so dopnt trust all email. Thats just not enough facts for me. I do buy Iams also so i am not hating on it because I do enjoy their products as do my dogs.

Later

Bruce H

I also had sent Iams an e-mail saying that I would not be feeding Iams products and would not be recommending Iams to my puppy buyers because of their association with HSUS. I then received that second e-mail saying they wouldn't support Petfest and HSUS next year.

I wanted to be sure they also received positive feedback when they did something right, so I responded thanking them for rethinking their position with HSUS and that I was back to feeding Iams again. I also stated that I was a bit concerned about the HSUS person on thier advisory board and was going to watch that carefully.

A few days later I got another response back from them thanking me for my response.

Bruce