Lawsuit claims Beneful Dog Food is Poisoning Pets

While perusing a site for some other information, I came across this article. It appears that thousands of dogs are getting sick from Beneful dog food and a lawsuit has ensued. If you get a chance to visit the link, there are a lot of convincing comments to read through. The bolding in the quote below is my emphasis.

www.foodsafetynews.com...

Lawsuit Claims Beneful Dog Food is Poisoning Pets


A class-action lawsuit filed Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California claims that certain ingredients in Beneful dry kibble dog food from Nestlé Purina PetCare Company have sickened or killed thousands of dogs.

Frank Lucido of Discovery Bay, CA, states in the complaint that after his family began feeding their three dogs Beneful in late December 2014 or early January of this year, all of them became ill and one died. A post-mortem examination of the English Bulldog who died reportedly found signs of internal bleeding in the stomach and liver lesions, according to the lawsuit. Similar symptoms were found in the other two dogs, a German Shepherd and a Labrador Retriever.

*snip*

The lawsuit contends that propylene glycol is a known animal toxin and a component of antifreeze. However, the company states that the type it uses is FDA-approved and is also used in human foods such as salad dressing and cake mix. In addition, the suit claims that mycotoxins, which are toxins produced by mold found in grains, are a health risk to dogs.

An attorney for the plaintiff said that after he heard Lucido’s story, he checked into the situation and began to see a pattern of similar allegations among pet owners.

“We found a significant number of folks who were trying to draw exactly the same causal link. Thousands,” said Jeff Cereghino, of Ram, Olson, Cereghino & Kopczynski in San Francisco. “If it’s a hundred or so, it’s like, ‘OK, a lot of dogs eat Beneful; things happen.’ But when you start getting into the thousands … .”

Things to look out for are (including seizures from some comments):

These symptoms include lethargy, decreased activity and appetite, vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes with blood or mucus), increased thirst and increased urination.

Wow i did not know they approved "propylene glycol" for human or animal consumption.

What the hell is wrong with them?

Poisons in our food to max profits.

This isn't good for them in any light. I feel for the families that have lost their pets over this.

Killing your clients, isn't helpful for long-term company profits. It's like selling a car that explodes and kills everyone after only 100 miles.

Unless your solution is to rid families of their beloved four legged family-members, is your desired outcome.

originally posted by: roth1
Wow i did not know they approved "propylene glycol" for human or animal consumption.

What the hell is wrong with them?

Poisons in our food to max profits.

I personally prefer methyl chloride in a long glass over ice with a cocktail onion and one of those little umbrellas.





... not.

a reply to: StoutBroux

Holy fu.k. Beneful is the stuff I bought and those symptoms are ALL what she had. I put her down a week after her seizure. I took her to the vet and the ultrasound showed nothing. She got better for awhile but then got sick again. I changed up food regularly but went back to beneful. Son of a bitch I knew it. It was eventually jaundice that got to her before I had to put her down so I thought I knew it had something to do with her liver. She was a healthy dog and it happened what seemed like a week or so. Not feeling very good atm.

We stopped feeding our dogs Beneful quite a while back. They didn't seem to like it and would only eat it if there was nothing else. They also seemed to be more lethargic after eating it for a couple of days. We switched to a brand that the dogs like much better [ Authority ] and their energy has gotten back to normal. May need to look in to this suit. One of our dogs had to have surgery for kidney stones and I need to ask the vet if there is any link between these ingredients and kidney stones in dogs.

a reply to: FlySolo

Not feeling very good atm.

Don't blame yourself. It was the fault of the greedy monsters who put profit over your dogs health who are to blame.

a reply to: DAVID64

my hand is still covering my mouth. I should have trusted my instincts and not listened to those stupid vets. All effing four of them. Because my dog was 12 they just dismissed it as renal failure, bad joints or whatever. Her creatin or CK levels were through the roof however, indicating major muscle pain. She just got progressively weaker and force feeding her antibiotics at that point was useless. And to think it was that effing food. I should have just thrown it out.

If you truly love your pets then please prepare them a homemade meal, there are plenty of easy recipes online.

I feed my Victorian Bulldog a raw diet and My Shiba Inu and Boston Terrier get a cooked meal.

a reply to: FlySolo

I am so sorry for your loss, Fly. Putting down your dog is painful. Been there. I wish you peace.

a reply to: FlySolo

So sorry, Fly. I am sad for you.

I would never feed my dogs stuff I can buy at target.

Thanks for the heads up

originally posted by: roth1
Wow i did not know they approved "propylene glycol" for human or animal consumption.

What the hell is wrong with them?

Poisons in our food to max profits.

Why the heck do they need to put antifreeze into our food to begin with? I read all the ingredients on anything I buy these days and avoid anything that isn't something I can pronounce.

This is a pretty good site for dog food. They review & grade
many many brands, from dirt to cheap to expensive, canned,
kibble, freeze dried, grain-free, special diets, raw & etc.
They also have a recall alert which will automatically send a
message in your email if any food or treats have been recalled.

www.dogfoodadvisor.com...

Cheers
Ektar

So sorry to hear Fly...me heart goes out to you.

a reply to: FlySolo

I know nothing about joining a class action lawsuit but you might consider it. Not that it'll bring her back but teach the Aaa-holes a lesson. This is a new story and I believe the suit was just recently filed in February 2015

Aww...crud

Beneful is the first dog food my lab mix eats as soon as it's in his dish..

Anyone have suggestions for soft (not wet) dog food in Europe.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention here. We often look at the ingredients for ourselves but overlook them when it comes to our pets. This is a good reminder as to why we need to be vigilant for them too.

a reply to: FlySolo

OMG! I'm so sorry!

This announcement is in the Pet Forum, as well. www.abovetopsecret.com...

I've fed my dogs Beneful for years and never had a problem. My oldest dog is 14 years old and has had Beneful for most of her life. Perhaps I just got lucky. Although I did change my dog food after I read about this suit, this suit will most likely get thrown out.

I feel for the people who lost their dogs. I question though if there's any way to link the dog food to the issues. How do they know the dog didn't get into something else it wasn't supposed to, or something else somehow got into the food? Etc.

By the way, this is nothing new for Beneful. Here's some more information from Snopes:

www.snopes.com...

Sorry but you've got to be an idiot to feed that rap to your dog! I mean doesn't anybody do their resesrch. It's like fools that drink diet soda all day long and wonder why they feel like crap and have migraines. ALL mainstream dog food is garbage. My in laws who raise animals on a farm still feed Alpo to their dogs. But yet they are "animal" people. Yeah right.