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A California federal judge recently ruled that Champion Petfoods USA must face class action claims that their Acana and Orijen dog food contains dangerous toxins.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied Champion’s bid for dismissal – finding that plaintiffs Jennifer Reitman and Carol Shoaff sufficiently alleged their claims that Acana and Orijen dog food contains arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and BPA despite claims that the food doesn’t contain anything “nature did not intend for your dog to eat.”
Although Judge Carter recognizes that the validity of the plaintiffs’ claims still remains undetermined, he ruled that the proposed Champion Petfoods class action lawsuit can continue.
“The court agrees that plaintiffs have adequately pled facts that, taken as true, from a plausible claim that Champion made actionable false, misleading, or otherwise deceptive statements regarding the nature and quality of their pet food,” Judge Carter wrote in his ruling.
Reitman filed the Champion dog food class action lawsuit in March 2018, claiming that the manufacturer’s packaging and advertising were misleading considering the alleged toxins in their products.
The Acana, Orijen class action brings various claims including violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California’s False Advertising Law, and California’s Unfair Competition Law.
In her Champion Petfoods class action, Reitman seeks to represent a California Class of consumers who have purchased Acana and Orijen dog foods from Champion Petfoods since July 2013.
Reitman amended the class action twice since filing, including when she added plaintiff Shoaff to the lawsuit in October. A month after this addition, Champion filed a motion to dismiss the claims.
The pet food company claimed that the chemicals and heavy metals found in their Acana and Orijen dog food brands are at low levels which cannot cause harm to animals. Champion also argued that the plaintiffs failed to determine at what level heavy metals and BPA become dangerous to pets.
Although Rietman and Shoaff successfully kept their Champion Petfoods class action afloat with this recent ruling, plaintiffs around the country have not had the same luck.
On the same day, a Wisconsin federal judge dismissed a similar class action regarding toxins in Champion dog food. The judge found that plaintiffs in the Wisconsin suit failed to show that the toxins allegedly found in the food were harmful to dogs. Just last month, class action lawsuits in Illinois and Massachusetts reached the same bitter end.
Reitman is represented by Rebecca A. Peterson, Robert K. Shelquist and Krista Freier of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP; Kevin A. Seely and Steven M. McKany of Robbins Arroyo LLP; Daniel E. Gustafson, Karla M. Gluek and Raina C. Borrelli of Gustafson Gluek PLLC; Charles LaDuca, Katherine Van Dyck and Brendan Thompson of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP; Joseph DePalma, Susana Cruz Hodge, Nicholas R. Lange and Steven J. Greenfogel of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC; Daryl D. Andrews of Andrews DeValerio LLP; Samuel J. Adams and Gustavo F. Bruckner Adams of Pomerantz LLP; and Conrad B. Stephens of Stephens & Stephens LLP.
The Champion Petfoods Toxic Dog Food Class Action Lawsuit is Reitman, et al. v. Champion Petfoods USA Inc., et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-01736, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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27 thoughts onChampion Petfoods Can’t Escape Toxic Dog Food Class Action
My Sons dog Diamond has just got black cell cancer of the gum, my son told me he smell something funny on her breath just before we had set up a appointment for her to see a vet to remove the large lump on her gum. well it got sent to a lab for testing and it came back cancer she has been on Orajen since she was a puppy right after my son stop feeding her raw food. my son notice a change in her since they started making it here in America .we would like to be included in the lawsuit. she has up to 1 year and half to live we hope she will live longer she is a little over 7 years old now. please include us in the lawsuit. thank you very much for your time.
My dog too got mast cell tumor and seizures in Dec 2018 and ate Orijen for years. Add me.
I started feeding my lab acana seniors dog food back in March 2017 after feeding him presidents choice 20% less fat dry dog food for 11 1/2 years. I thought this would be better for him as the company advertised but unfortunately my dog went downhill in 8 months and end up dying. He had lumps on his chest, started peeing blood steady and had a heavy deep cough which he had never had anything like that before. I would like to find out about this class action because I believe that there is a big possibility that this happened. He was a very healthy dog before feeding this dog food.
Please add me. My dog passed away suddenly at 9 years old. She had Tumours on her lungs, which is very rare. Also developed and enlarged heart. Looking back, she had soft bowels and vomited more than normal.
Please add me! I almost lost my dog because of this food “Acana “ She quit making red blood cells because her bone marrow was scared up from high metals! It has taken us over a year to get her back on track! She’s had to have 8 blood transfusions and was on so many medications it would make your head spin! I can say with the help of some great Vets and lots of prayers she’s still here with us and is finally making red blood cells!
I just lost my GSP at ten, he had a white blood cell count of 117000 yes 117000 ppm ,the vet said he had never seen a cell count that high in a dog. All i ever give my dog was red meat acana , sorry to say I lost my best buddy and hunter on 4/20/20 to lukemia because of this food,
My dogs liver enzymes have been elevated since I started feeding him Orijen. A normal reading is about 70 and my dogs liver enzymes were about 200 for a couple of years. I didn’t really think about it until his recent tests showed his liver enzyme (ALT) was now about 440 and the doctor’s started to get concerned. I decided to change his food and in about 3 weeks his enzyme levels are back into the 200’s and look forward to them continuing to drop. I spent a ton of money on the food over the years and now just feel like I was poisoning my dog. I’m beyond angry. I wrote to Orijen last week and got back a bs email from them that all’s well in their world. Tell that to my dog!
I fed Acana and my dog now has high liver enzymes. I’ve spent almost $1000 on appointments, meds, ultrasounds. I’m in Ohio I want to join this too.
Please add me to the claim form list. Thank you.
I’d like to be on claim form list
How does one sign onto this class action? I have been feeding my breeding pair of protection dogs AND THEIR PUPS Orijen and Acana for a couple years. Just now looking back (and recently) realizing I had seen some red flags, such as my dogs bowel movements being abnormal. My fathers dogs have even been throwing up for several months now, thinking it was something totally different than the “top shelf” dog chow we spend an arm and a leg on every month! This is absolute B.S.! I want to be refunded in full for the 10’s of thousands spent on this toxic “biologically appropriate, fresh, locally sourced from trusted suppliers, premium dog food! How dare you poison my kids! And their spineless snake like response to the plaintiff just adds fuel to the fire, claiming they failed to show what amount of toxins are actually toxic, that is not their job, its yours. Also they are the first to blame someone else for the issue, blaming the supplier! NO, its called quality control, which you clearly don’t have anymore.
Switching to RAW, forget this kibble business.
Both my dogs were on scans and Origen for years and both developed cancer early. How do I get added to the class action suit?
This is outrageous I’ve been feeding my dogs poison? Add me immediately ty
Add me please.