After switching his three dogs to Purina Petcare Company’s Beneful brand of dog food in late December 2014, or early January 2015, Frank Lucido experienced something no pet owner ever wants to go through.
According to TopClassActions.com:
On Jan. 15, the German Shepherd began to lose a large amount of hair and began giving off a unusual odor, which concerned Lucido and his wife, who first started to notice the symptoms. Two days later the German Shepherd became “violently ill.”
After being examined by a veterinarian, it was determined that the German Shepherd was suffering from internal bleeding in the dog’s stomach and the liver was also malfunctioning, which the veterinarian said was “consistent with poisoning.”
On Jan. 23, Lucido’s wife found the English Bulldog dead in their yard. “Post-mortem veterinary examination revealed signs of internal bleeding in the dog’s stomach and lesions on his liver, much like [the German Shepherd],” the class action lawsuit claims.
The Labrador also became ill and is being tested for similar problems
Lawsuit Filed
This month, Lucido filed a class action lawsuit against the Nestle Purina Pet Care Company, after hearing about more than 3,000 other complaints against Beneful causing sickness in pets.
According to Frank Lucido v. Nestle Purina Petcare Company, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, all of the complaints show “consistent symptoms, including stomach and related internal bleeding, liver malfunction or failure, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, seizures, bloating, and kidney failure.”
ConsumerAffairs.com has over 800 reviews, the majority of which are heartbreakting stories dogs getting sick and many dying, after being feed Beneful. One Boxer died within a week of kidney failure.
According to TopClassActions.com:
Beneful dog foods allegedly include propylene glycol, which is “an automotive component that is a known animal toxin and is poisonous to cats and dogs.”
In addition, the Beneful class action lawsuit alleges that the dog food includes mycotoxins, which are “a group of toxins produced by fungus that occurs in grains, which are a principle ingredient in Beneful.”
The class action lawsuit cites the Association for Truth In Pet Food, which tested “Beneful Original and found that it contained dangerous levels of mycotoxins.”
The lawsuit covers two classes – a nationwide class as well as a California subclass for dog owners “who purchased Beneful dog food in the past four years and who incurred any out of pocket costs due to illness, injury or death of their dog resulting from the ingestion of Beneful.” (www.TopClassActions.com)
TopClassActions.com lists the attorneys representing pet food consumers in the lawsuit as: Jeffrey B. Cereghino of Ram, Olson, Cereghino & Kopcyzynski, by John Yanchunis of Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, by Karl Molineux of Merrill, Nomura & Molineux, and by Donna F. Solen of Kimbrell Kimbrell & Solen LLC.
Beneful Tested
The Truth About Pet Food’s test, which is consumer funded, found “Beneful Original to contain 10 different mycotoxins which resulted in a Risk Equivalent Quality of 32 – about high risk” (www.truthaboutpetfood.com)
If you feed Beneful and want to switch, talk to your vet and check out the TruthAboutPetFood.com for information on the pet foods deems safest based on non-biased testing.
H/T: TopClassActions.com
