[Sam (Mr. Mu)]

Admagic, you're not the only one who goes crazy over these things, I too am afflicted. One that comes to mind in the same vein is "Dermatologically tested" skin products.

So that'll be skin products that have, er.. been tested on skin, then.

:-)

[Entro]

It's not uncommon in the pet industry now, or on the fringes of it anyway. Feelwells Probiotic* is another, scroll down this impressive site, where they state with some ambiguity: "Feelwell’s Probiotic Treats are not tested on animals, nor do we believe in or support animal testing. Our treats are taste tested by Midge and Zara our family pets and any of their furry friends (with their owner’s permission)..."---perhaps their family pets are Midge Ure and Zara Philips.
There is a large grouping of homeopathic vets who endorse this, and a lot of the organizers of 'Green' summer fairs etc insist upon it.

Barking isn't it?

*'Probiotic' is a weasel word that means 'live micro-organisms', if it means anything at all. Better than 'no germs' I suppose.

[HomebuyerConsultancy]

It's got us all talking about it, so if it was a clevr ploy by the pet food company, then it's working well for them.

You'd never catch me copying successful advertising campaigns.

The Homebuyers Consultancy - Not tested on homebuyers!

[Chubster]

Not as stupid as it sounds......and Im surprised Pet Nanny hasnt been along

Check out this wee site and you will see what they mean by "Not Tested on Animals"

There is a growing awareness among the buying public into these sort of issues

Palatability tests are one thing....cutting lumps out of a dogs muscle is another!

[Indizine]

well I got confused about whether this was discussing the advert itself or the product!

[Alvin]

well if it was not a PPC add it would be a usefull bit of copy to stick in a pet food website,as I suspect this topic is fairly big I.E "animal testing"

But I suspect they just fell on their Ar*es having viewed there site.

Anyone know where I can buy a car that has not been tested on the road.?

Alvin

[Indizine]

im gonna add to my website - not tested on animals lol

[Gamesman]

I agree with the previous thought though..

If you can make a really crap advert that has people rolling in the aisles. It's going to spread virally.

Thus good marketing.

Of course, it would have to be cleverly made so as not to mock the product and stop people buying it, but as long as it gets out there into peoples minds......

I've even attempted one on youtube.....wasn't funny though........just crap !

.

[Petnanny]

Goodness, how on earth did I miss this one! Thanks Chubster.

I'm astounded by this Perhaps if people saw the tests carried out by the, I believe minority, of pet food companies, they would think twice about buying their products.

In this day and age there is absolutely no reason for this disgusting practice and it makes a complete mockery of their advertising material.

Proctor and Gamble are a prime example which includes all Iams products.

[Helen - Feelwells]

Hi
I am Helen and Feelwell's is my company. Just spotted this thread so I thought I would come on here and try to explain the "not tested on animals" bit.

We produce healthy, natural pet treats that are made with human food grade ingredients and are nutritionally balanced. We do not use any artificial colours, flavours or preservatives nor do we use meat or animal derivatives.

We know that our products are perfectly safe to eat therefore the only testing we do is palatability - we offer it to my two pets Zara and Midge to see if they like the taste - if they dont want to eat it, they dont have to. We also offer it to pets of friends and family.

Some of the larger pet food companies do their palatibility testing on caged animals under lab conditions. In addtion they carry out horrific invasive testing on live animals which we find abhorrent, sickening and totally unnecessary.

This is why we use the phrase "not tested on animals" so the pet owner knows that they are not supporting that kind of testing when they buy our products.

Maybe we do need a different phrase though - any ideas welcome!

Many of these larger companies also use less than desirable ingredients in their pet food and you can find out more about this if you visit the Campaign for Real Pet Food.

On a different note - this forum is fab - how did I not know about it before? I am a very small business and some of the information and advice on here is exactly what I need, think I could be doing a lot more posting!