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Seresto Flea Collar Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A Florida consumer, John Czerniak, sued Bayer and Elanco Animal Health Inc., the former and current owners of the Seresto brand of flea and tick collars.
- Why: The lawsuit stems from allegations that the Seresto collars can sicken and kill pets.
- Where: Czerniak’s lawsuit is playing out in federal court in Pennsylvania.
At least one of the class action lawsuits claiming owners of the Seresto brand flea and tick collar knowingly sold a product that can sicken and kill pets is progressing through the courts.
On Friday, a class action complaint filed by Florida Plaintiff John Czerniak against Seresto’s former owner Bayer and its new owner Elanco Animal Health Inc. was transferred to an Illinois court for pretrial proceedings.
Czerniak filed the lawsuit in April, alleging his dog Romeo developed seizures and skin irritation while using the Seresto collar, and that the seizures only stopped when he removed the product.
Czerniak’s class action lawsuit is purely seeking economic damages for the Class, rather than relief for any personal injuries or wrongful death, Law360 reported.
His is one of at least three class action lawsuits filed regarding the Seresto collar, after a bombshell report on the Seresto flea and tick collar by USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
Journalists discovered that, since Seresto collars were introduced in 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received incident reports of at least 1,698 pet deaths related to the product and done nothing about it.
Since the report was released, a Congressional subcommittee called on Elanco to voluntarily recall the flea and tick collars, but the company declined to do so, saying there was no evidence that the collar was to blame for the animals’ deaths.
Since the Seresto collar hit the market in 2012, the EPA received more than 75,000 incident reports related to the collars, including the 1,698 pet deaths and nearly 1,000 involving human harm.
Between 2013 and 2018, 907 incidents were reported with humans, 19 of these incidents deemed severe.
One included a case of a 12-year-old boy who slept in a bed with a dog wearing a collar who started having seizures and vomiting and had to be hospitalized.
The collar was developed by German pharmaceutical company Bayer and sold to Elanco in 2020. Elanco spokesperson Colleen Dekker said the company had sold more than 25 million collars and an incident report rate of .3 percent, and it had investigated all the reports of death and found no link to the active pesticides, USA Today reported.
“There’s nothing that suggests it’s the active ingredients in the collar that’s at fault,” Dekker reportedly said.
In March, weeks after the first report of incidents surrounding the Seresto collar, a class action lawsuit was filed against Elanco alleging the company misrepresented the safety of its products.
In May, another lawsuit against Bayer Corp and Elanco was filed in a Pennsylvania federal court, claiming the pair sold the Seresto flea collar despite knowing that substances included in the product could harm pets and owners.
Have you used a Seresto flea collar on your pet? We want to hear from you! Tell us what happened in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiff is represented by Daniel C. Levin, Nicholas J. Elia of Levin Sedran & Berman LLP, and Scott D. Levensten Law Firm, PC.
The Seresto Flea Collar Class Action Lawsuit is Levensten v. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-02364 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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176 thoughts onClass Action Alleging Seresto Collar Can Kill Pets Advances to Next Stage
Burnt my dogs neck from chemicals bleeding and had to go to vet
How do we get help? My cat beck was burned too!
My cat and dog used to wear the seresto collars back in 2016 to 2019, everything was fine but my daughter convinced me to be more healthy so we put them on an all natural flea treats 2019-2022. Our indoor 15 yr old cat had a flea here and there, as our 12 yr old dog who was indoor outdoor seemed to be flea free, we ended up buying seresto collars for them on August 24th, 2022 from our local vet office after our cat got her nails clipped. 1 week and a half later we noticed our active, playful dog who loved to chase squirrels was haunched over vomiting up bile and saliva. She had a couple of bouts of diarrhea and didn’t realize it was serious at that point. Both pets started showing signs of loss of appetite, only drinking water and lethargic, stumbling when they walked. I called the vet on Tuesday, September 6th and they only had a walk in appointment on the 7th, didn’t care that it costs more to do that. I noticed that morning at 6am my dog Cocoa was peeing bloody brown urine. They did blood work and said her liver was fighting off an unknown toxin causing the liver to overwork, spilling bilirubin into her urine. Now, $500.00 later because they wanted to run more tests when I am unable to spend thousands of dollars on my baby, they sent me home with antibiotics and anti vomit medicine until the urine analysis came back from their laboratory. Brought my cat into the office on September 9th, when she was no longer eating and only drinking water. They ran a blood test and her potassium was super high, red blood count was low and seeing that she was 15, we decided putting her down was the humane thing to do. I told the vet about the collars and he didn’t believe that had anything to do with my babies, even though 2 weeks ago everything was fine. I did a little homework on these collars and found one of the ingredients can cause ataxia, hence the loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea and constant drinking of water. By the way, today when I put down my cat KC, the vet told me my dog Cocoas urine analysis came back and showed she has a urinary tract infection and put her on amoxicillan plus denamarin advanced for her liver. I still can’t get her to eat the canned dog food they gave me, so we will see what happens next.
I had been using the seresto collar drive they were released, I am a dog groomer, so I recommended them to many clients. I had a very living energetic dog that died from poisoning after using a seresto collar, I was unaware that the collar killed her until a few weeks ago and I purchased them again for several dogs, I placed the collars on 3 dogs, within 4 hours they all exhibited the same exact behavior my Anna did, which was throwing up diarrhea and not eating or drinking. I took the colors off the dogs within 8 hours the diarrhea and throwing up stopped, the younger dogs were feeling better within days, although my offer dog is still having residual effects from the collar, I do not recommend this color to anybody it is killing many many pets.
We had a very happy energetic 10yr. Dog named Odie
He was part of our Family.
He was loved by everyone friends & neighbors.
Every day my husband would say let’s get the kids up.
When we would go camping He had his own chair around the fire.
He had his own @ home also we would sit outside & watch the birds & Bunny’s.
He liked to chase chipmunks.
He went every were white us.
He started acting differently we keep trying to think what was different. We looked back on the calendar to think of what was different. There it was the Seresto sticker was on the calendar.
We took him & bathed him really well then he rested.
He drank a little water. But our energetic dog was life less.
He didn’t eat so my husband cooked him some chicken & rice. He eat some & he got a little better for a few days.
He could walk again. We thought maybe he would get through it.
But a day later he started throwing up all over & then tried standing to go outside to the bathroom & couldn’t stand or walk.
My husband carried him out there.
Then after having terrible dieareha all over he fell into his arms his moth hung open & his Heart stopped.
Our Beautiful Odie was gone for EVER! OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN & Can’t stop thinking of him.
We cry so much.
He can’t be replaced.
But the Company should pay for all of our losses. We will never be the same again.
We love you Odie & feel so bad for putting that collar on you you trusted us. It isn’t fair.
We were introduced initially to Seresto through the Veterinarian’s office (offering a rebate) so we figured it was safe.
I’ve had 2 dogs with “strange symptoms”. We ended up losing my teacup min pin. It was very traumatic because it happened so fast. It started with loss of appetite, then vomiting green bile. I took him when the vomiting didn’t stop & the Vet ran labs. His liver enzymes were off the charts! I couldn’t understand how this could happen! I immediately thought he had a liver mass but the ultrasound was negative for liver mass but he noticed the gallbladder enlarged with sludge. So we proceeded with gallbladder removal to give him a fighting chance. He kept getting weaker & weaker & continued to vomit. We tried everything to save my poor baby. We fed him through a syringe for a week & ended up sitting him upright in a bucket to keep him from vomiting. He never recovered. He ended up dying in my arms on the way to the emergency vet. I was traumatized! We had tried everything & he still died. The procedure cost us $2500, plus labs & ultrasound. And he had to stay a few extra days with the vet until he could come home. Now I know what happened! The Seresto collar that was supposed to protect him, made him so sick, he died a painful death. He was only 7 years old & lived a very active life with us after we rescued him. I still cry over the loss of my sweet Henry. He died May 2019.
I also have another Min Pin who has had muscle weakness, hair loss, bloody stools & urinary issues without any real explanation. We have kept her symptoms at bay with antibiotics, probiotics, & glucosamine. More costly vet office visits, labs, & meds. Now all of it is making sense reading the reports from other dog owners. These collars are not cheap either! We have 3 dogs now & I had just bought Seresto collars for them at $50-60/piece about 6 months ago. I know now that I cannot let them wear them anymore!!! Their lives depend on it!! Our pets trust us to take care of them & make the right decisions for their health & safety.
I think this company should be held accountable. Our pets are family!
ADD ME
I use seresto flea and tick collar on my Boston terrier. he is now epileptic due to using the collar has to take medication for seizures. I know the collar did it he was young healthy until I used the product.
Our dog started developing tumors shortly after we started using the collar. I assumed that it was due to old age. I learned about these collars shortly after we had to put her down.
I put a seresto collar on my one yr old cat. He’s on his second one and have noticed signs of FHS. Took collar off fearing this may have caused it. Anything that lasts 8 mos can’t be good, hind site
I purchased seresto collars for the last 6 years although there has been no negative effects on my 3lb chihuahua my eldest chihuahua had begin to get severe sores under her collar legs and on her hind legs. I never could figure out what was causing it but stopped using the collars and the sores stopped.