posted 04-10-2003 05:19 PM           

Dear Barbara:

On behalf of Iams president, Jeffrey P. Ansell, thank you for sharing your
opinions in regards to our research policy. We appreciate the influence you
have among your peers, and we hope the news within this message will help
restore your confidence in our commitment to the health and well-being of dogs
and cats.

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.iams.com/en_US/jhtmls/faq/sw_Faq_detail.jhtml?questionid=167&brandcode=I&loc
aleid=en_US&pagetypeid=FQ
de=I&localeid=en_US&pagetypeid=FQ> (or go to www.iamsco.com
and 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.

Sincerely,
Cindy Achor
Group Manager
Iams Consumer Care