PRETENDERS - CHRISSIE JOINS PET FOOD BOYCOTT

Animal-loving THE PRETENDERS star CHRISSIE HYNDE has joined MORRISSEY in urging music fans to boycott American pet food chain IAMS.

The BRASS IN POCKET singer has vowed to steer clear of the company's products until it stops conducting cruel and deadly experiments on dogs and cats.

Taking a break from her group's world tour, which hits New Zealand this week (beg16FEB04), Hynde brandished a handmade sign, reading "Boycott Iams" and posed with her own pet dog for a picture that will be featured in PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS' (PETA) anti-Iams campaign.

Former THE SMITHS star Morrissey recently appeared in a photospread for America's INDEX magazine holding a cardboard sign, reading "WE HATE IAMS".

A recent PETA undercover investigation revealed deplorable conditions at an Iams contract laboratory. At least 27 dogs were killed, while others died of illnesses that went untreated, despite assurances from Iams that no animal in any Iams test would ever be deliberately killed.