Blue Buffalo is facing serious backlash after a Twitter user posted a photo of a bag of moldy dog food. According to Twitter user iittssaaavv, she was feeding her dogs, Daisy and Duke, a Blue Buffalo brand of dry food when she found the mold at the bottom of the bag. She posted in late March saying, “PSA: This @bluebuffalo bag of dog food has mold at the bottom which could’ve KILLED my dogs! Spread the word to any Blue Buffalo users!!!”
On Tuesday, she gave an update announcing the moldy food has had fatal consequences. She said, “UPDATE: One of my dogs died a few days ago from a heart attack and my other dog is experiencing liver failure. This will NOT go unnoticed.”
The dog owner’s tweets have since been seen by thousands. People are offering condolences and support, but most of the comments call for justice. Twitter users are demanding a response from Blue Buffalo. They’re saying things like, “You better give her money,” and many are encouraging the owner of the affected dogs to sue.
Blue Buffalo responded to the original post saying their customer service team was working to get to the bottom of the situation, but they’ve failed to express any further comments.
The accusation isn’t the first controversy for the pet food brand. A batch of dry food was recalled last March due to mold concerns, and a line of wet food was taken off shelves only a few weeks ago because of elevated levels of beef thyroid hormone.
https://twitter.com/iittssaavv/status/854677389653266432
Even with this tenuous history, Business Insider reports it is unlikely that Blue Buffalo will be found legally liable for the dog’s death. There’s no way of knowing for sure that the pet food company was responsible for the mold. It could have been that the store where the food was bought didn’t have proper storage. Pet owners are also recommended to remove dry food from the bag and transfer it to an air-tight container after it’s opened. There are too many possibilities for the blame to be placed solely on the shoulders of Blue Buffalo.
But regardless of who’s to blame, a dog’s life was lost and a second is struggling to survive. It was posted on Twitter on Wednesday that the surviving dog was given two days to show improvements. If he remains ill, his owner reports he’ll have to be euthanized. All pet owners are encouraged to thoroughly check their pet food before dishing it out to dogs and cats.
Feature Image Source: Twitter/iittssaaavv
Toledo, United States.
