Hi
I am really concerened.  I went to Discover Dogs yesterday and on the way in was handed a leaflet for boycotting Iams & Eukanuba.  It would appear from this leaflet that they test their food on dogs and cats and when I went to the PETA website they had some shocking graphic footage of one of the labs and the way the poor poor dogs were being treated.  Having seen this I called the Eukanuba careline who said that they do test on animals but only palatable tests, faeces tests etc and that they are all well treated and go to new homes after etc etc.  She also offered to send me some literature in the post.
I am coming to the bottom of the bag of Eukanuba and I am not sure that I now want to continue with this brand having heard and seen what I have seen.  I am considering Burns and James Wellbeloved for my 6 month old labrador.  I know that Burns do not test on animals but am unsure about James Wellbeloved.  Can anybody help shed some light on this and possibly tell me what they would recommend of the two for a labrador.
The other thing I have found with Eukanuba also is that she drinks heaps could it be that the food is too salty? Has anybody else had this problem.
Many thanks for your help
Van

Dogs fed on any dried food need plenty of water available at all times, to compensate for the lack of moisture in the feed.

It's important to remember that PETA are anti-pet ownership, and have, on their website, recommendations that people abduct others' pets and have them neutered, to, as they advocate "Help make America a no-birth area". Be very careful what you believe.

Have a look on the BUAV website for BUAV approved foods, or do a search on here for BUAV as it has been discussed a few times :)

The following companies are approved under the 'No Animal Testing' Pet Food Standard. All approved companies will be eligible to display the Standards distinctive logo on packaging, to make avoiding animal testing whilst you shop even easier.

It means that no animal testing was carried out at any stage of the supply chain.

Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd
Brands: Burns Real Food For Dogs; Burns Real Food For Cats; Burns Organic Food For Garden Birds.
Available by mail order, from pet shops, veterinary practices and independent pet food suppliers.
Telephone: 01554 890482
Email: burns.pet@btconnect.com

Europa Pet Foods Ltd
Brands: Europa - please note: this is NOT Europa supermarkets.
Available from a variety of pet shops and independent pet product suppliers - check out www.europa-pet-food.co.uk for details. Alternatively order by mail order at info@europa-pet-food.co.uk or call 0845 658 0987.

Fromm Family Foods
Brands: Fromm Family Four Star Nutritionals; Fromm Family Nutritionals.
Available from Postal Pet Products Ltd Customer Enquiries tel: 01531 633 985 to order or for details of your nearest distributor/agent; or order via www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk.

Harbingers Of A New Age
Brands: Vegecat; Vegekit; Vegedog; Vegecat Kibblemix.
Available from the Vegan Society.
Telephone: 01424 42739
Email: info@vegansociety.com

Leander International Pet Foods Ltd
Brands: Arden Grange; Arden Grange Classic - dog and cat.
Available from supermarkets, by mail order and in pet shops.
Telephone: 01273 833390
Email: enquiries@ardengrange.com

NatureDiet Pet Foods Ltd
Brands: NatureDiet Pet Foods - for dogs
Available from pet stores.
Telephone: 08700 132960
Email: info@naturediet.co.uk

Top Number
Brands: Top Number and Happidog
Dog and cat food
Available from health food stores; mail order; veterinary practices; pet trade stores
Telephone: 0800 0182955

Trophy Pet Foods
Brands: Trophy Pet Food
Dog, cat and small mammal foods (including for rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits and guinea pigs). Available through mail order; through their nationwide network of Trophy franchises who offer a local free home delivery service (Please note: that some franchisees do sell other brands but only the Trophy Pet Food brand is BUAV approved as 'not animal tested'.)
Telephone: 01367 243434
Email: sales@trophypetfoods.co.uk
www.trophypetfoods.co.uk

I can understand your concern as I have been at events where PETA campaigned. BUAV approval is useful but the fact that a company is not BUAV approved does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that animal testing is carried out.
A friend of mine who is concerned about Animal Testing did a bit of fact finding on James Welbelloved before deciding to buy their cat food (which they now do).

One question for you - will you take the same approach with dog wormers and flea control tablets / spot-ons?

HI Robert
That is a very good question that I had not thought of.  Naturally I just want what is best for my puppy so it is very hard to know which way to go in relation to food let alone wormers and flea medications.  You have certainly given me "food for thought" excuse the pun I did not think about wormers and flea medications being tested on animals are they all tested like this?
Van

Another way to look at it, goat, is would you like to use a product on your pet that had not been tested, would you like to use a product that is at best ineffectual or at worst detrimental to your dogs health.  I think it needs considering that some testing is necessary and not all testing is cruel.  When looking at the BUAV site it would appear that all testing involves hammering something metal into a monkey's head when in fact I think it is far more likely that Eukanuba are telling the truth about blood and faecal tests as these seem to me to be the likely tests to tell them what they need to know, why spend money on tests that don't.
All that a company has to do to be omitted from their 'approved' list is not allow this unauthorised group to traipse round their premises.  I say this confident that the anti-testing brigade do not know where my relatives are buried :rolleyes:

It beggars belief that some people assume that because you choose to support a legal and legitimate group (BUAV) that you must also be engaged in criminal activates. Most groups who support a particular cause will attract an element that take their cause passed acceptable boundaries and most sane and intelligent people will accept this, in fact it would not be passed the realms of fiction that in order to discredit a cause you join it and then commit the most heinous of crimes thus giving those who disagree with it the opportunity to discredit it.. IAMAS AND EUK keep appearing in these posts more and more because the world is wising up and it's not down to grave robbers more corporate robbery-Jo

>Most groups who support a particular cause will attract an element that take their cause passed acceptable boundaries and most sane and intelligent people will accept this

I would have said most sane and intelligent people would not accept this - that is what acceptable boundaries are!

No you lumped everyone who supports animal wellbeing as a grave robber . I am just pointing out that most people know that it's the extremists who go beyond the acceptable boundaries, most others peruse legal, free speech and proper debate to try and get the message across. The majority of people understand this and separate the two-jo

Fair dos, I'll stop assuming all the antis will stop at nothing to get their(not the) message across if you stop assuming all pet food manufacturers are amoral :)

Not all manufacturers are amoral the 8 listed by the BUAV are some of the good guys.

Hi Van

Most of the flea / wormers will have undergone testing. For example Merial Animal Health Ltd (Merial Corporation) markets the frontline product. Merial are a customer of Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Good question posed by another poster - would you use these products that contain chemicals as the active ingredients if no animal testing had taken place, or would you seek out natural remedies.

No surprise to me about Merial being a member of Huntingdon!!!! As far as I`m concerned Merial are interested in one thing & one thing only, profit, no way are they interested in the animals that the products they make are used on. I`ll never use another another product of theirs again after what their vaccine did to my pups. They only bothered getting in touch with me when my pup died & the vet told them I wasn`t going to let it rest, even tho by then they were legally bound to inform the authorities an adverse reaction had occured after their vaccine had been used. Only thing they did was deny their vaccine caused it & I couldn`t prove it did. If I`d had the money I would have sued them, Dr Jean Dodds told me she could prove it was the vaccine. They are rubbish!!!!
I do actively seek out & use natural remedies. I recently had second generation litter of pups that have never been wormed & their fecal tests were negative, no fleas either & also this litter have not been vaccinated & up to now no problems. The immune system is the cornerstone of good health, therefor I fed my pups foods that help build it & mature to its full working potential & will maintain it thru life, same as I do my adult dogs.
Christine, Spain.

Christine Hi
I have never heard of Merial or Huntingdon.  My Desi has Drontal for worms and advantage for fleas.  I must say though I don't like any of these chemical things that could potentially be harmful and I am sorry to hear that your pup passed away from an injection.  I would love to know what natural remedies you have used to keep your dogs free from fleas/worms and also what you feed them as I am very interested in this
Thanks
Van

JAMES WELLBELOVED Is now owned by by the mars group (pedigree) and is not on the the BUAV LIST because of this.

Try www.uncaged.co.uk it has a list of suppliers who dont test on animals web addresses and phone numbers.
Mary

The same companies that are on the BUAV site.............

Apparently Euk is one of several foods which was tested and they, along with about 42 others, showed to contained Sodium Barbituate, which is used to euthanise pet animals and cattle not suitable for human consumption. In America it is legal to send euthanised pets from vets to put into pet food, so Euk could well contain someones dead pet dog/cat/rabbit etc! It is illegal in the UK, but not illegal to sell American products. And they do do tests on animals. That is why they released Iams, because they got so much bad publicity they were losing business and so changed their name. Euk has also been linked to excessive and uneven bone growth, particulary in large breeds. Disgusting stuff IMO.

Eukanuba also contains ethoxyquine as a preservative which is a pesticide.  Disgusting stuff - I agree.  Mine are on Naturediet and have also been on Burns which I liked a lot.  Only reason Holly is not on Burns now is that she has a kidney condition and they get very fussy and she stopped eating.  She was very well on Burns for 6 months.

Royal canine have brought a food out for Labradors,i dont know anything about it though?
Sheila.

Royal Canin is now owned by by the mars group (pedigree) and is not on the the BUAV LIST because of this.

Personally i do not restrict myself to buying from BUAV approved manufacturers

I would rather use natural products than something that was tested on animals,it has worked for me thus far.
Euk and iams has had so much bad publicity that it's hard not to believe the hype,i would rather be on the safe side and not use any brand that has such a terrible reputation,i cant understand why anyone else would either????

I have brought up the euthanised dogs and cats in pet foods before ,but the "guilty consiense" people refused to believe it,as someone else stated iams euk.etc. is made in the u.s where it is not illegal for the pet food companies to add dead dogs,cats,roadkill or whatever into their products:(

I refuse to support any company that is cruel to animals just to spin a profit.So they say they only do feacal tests etc. did they also mention that these dogs are often de-barked,never get exercise or fresh air,are kept in cramped cages and more often than not are euthanised when they are no longer needed????
Why anyone with a concience would want to support this is beyond me.and not to mention these foods are utter garbage which i wouldnt feed to a rabbit lettalone a meat eating dog!.

Well said Ozzie!

Hi, I was at cruft's last year during the demo, and was told that Proctol and Gambal now own Iams and Euk and that most of there stuff including washing powders made by them are tested on animal's, how true this is i don't really know, but i steer cleer of them just incase. Viv

It's Proctor and Gamble and yes it is true. They make Fairy washing up liquid and Persil plus loads of others. As I said, disgusting stuff!

does anybody know anything about FROMM and how does it compare to Burns?
Van