Milo’s Kitchen Class Action Says Pet Treats are Dangerous

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The makers of the Milo’s Kitchen brand of pet treats are facing a class action lawsuit from one dog owner who says their treats made her dog dangerously ill.

Plaintiff Sharel Mawby says the defendant’s dog treats poisoned her dog, Honda. In 2012, she bought two bags of Milo’s Kitchen chicken dog treats from a Wal-Mart in Missouri, she says.

After Honda ate some of the treats, she alleges, he began exhibiting signs that he had eaten something bad for him – signs including “lethargy, a swollen belly, diarrhea and excessive consumption of water.”

Mawby says she did not over-feed Honda with the treats and that she had made no changes to Honda’s diet other than feeding him the new Milo’s Kitchen treats.

Though the product’s labeling describes the treats as “wholesome,” “100% real,” and “made with the same quality of ingredients and care that you want with your food,” Mawby now claims the treats are anything but. She alleges Milo’s Kitchen chicken dog treats are made with “substandard, non-wholesome ingredients that were contaminated with poisonous antibiotics and other potentially lethal substances,” some of which she says were imported from China.

These ingredients can cause acute renal failure or other potentially life-threatening illnesses in dogs, Mawby alleges. She believes Milo’s Kitchen marketed their chicken dog treats deceptively to appeal to consumers’ interest in higher-quality dog food products.

Mawby cites two warnings issued by the FDA concerning chicken-flavored dog treats like those made by Milo’s Kitchen. In September 2007, the agency advised consumers of a “potential association between development of illness in dogs and the consumption of chicken jerky products also described as chicken tenders, strips or treats.”

Then in November 2011, Mawby says, the FDA issued another warning, this time about chicken flavored dog treats imported from China. The agency noted it had received a large number of reports from dog owners and veterinarians about dog illness associated with these imported chicken jerky treats. Some of these reported incidents apparently ended in the dog’s death.

Mawby says that from 2010 to 2012, the FDA received 2,674 reports of dog illnesses and 501 reports of dog deaths associated with chicken dog treats imported from China. Some of these reports specifically identify Milo’s Kitchen chicken dog treats as the suspected cause of illness.

Defendants named in this pet treats class action lawsuit include Milo’s Kitchen LLC, its parent company Big Heart Pet Brands (which formerly did business as Del Monte Corporation or Del Monte Foods), and Big Heart’s parent company The J.M. Smucker Company.

Mawby seeks to represent a Class consisting of all consumers who purchased Milo’s Kitchen chicken dog treats within the state of Missouri between Mar. 1, 2011 and Jan. 31, 2013.

She is asking the court to award her and potential Class Members both actual and statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, with pre- and post-judgment interest.

The plaintiff is represented by Christopher S. Shank, David L. Heinemann, and Stephen J. Moore of Shank & Moore.

The Milo’s Kitchen Dog Treats Class Action Lawsuit is Mawby v. Milo’s Kitchen LLC, et al., Case No. 1616-CV03384, in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri at Independence.

UPDATE: March 2019, the Missouri Milo’s Kitchen dog treats class action settlement is now open.Click here to file a claim.