Evanger’s Must Face Poisonous Dog Food Class Action, Judge Rules

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A judge determines that a class action lawsuit alleging Evanger’s dog food is poisonous will continue in court.

In January 2017, plaintiffs Nicole and Guy Mael, Nadine Vigliano, Britney Morea, Angela Bertucci, and Tina Wiepert field a class action lawsuit claiming that their dogs got sick after eating Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Co. beef products, and that the company’s dog food contained pentobarbital, a euthanizing drug.

They claimed that Evanger’s falsely advertised their products as premium, labeling their products as “100% beef,” and “human grade, USDA inspected meat.” According to the Evanger’s dog food class action lawsuit, the products are not premium and “100% beef,” as advertised.

One couple in the Evanger’s poisoned dog food class action lawsuit, the Maels, claim that they fed Evanger’s food to their five dogs for four years. Around New Year’s Eve 2016, they allegedly made a purchase of Evanger’s “Hunk of Beef” and “Pulled Beef” and fed it to their dogs.

Shortly after the dogs ate the food, the Maels say their dogs showed neurological symptoms. According to the Maels, they rushed their dogs to a veterinarian. One of their dogs died the next day, and the other four required ongoing medical care.

The Maels allege that FDA necropsy testing of the deceased dog reveled that the Evanger’s food contained large quantities of pentobarbital.

Roughly a year ago, the FDA found traces of pentobarbital in other beef products made by Evanger’s. This prompted the company to conduct a recall of these products. However, the Evanger’s contaminated dog food class action lawsuit notes that in May of last year, another dog fell ill after eating Evanger’s “Duck and Sweet Potato” food, which was not recalled with the beef products.

Evanger’s made a motion to dismiss the Evanger’s pet food class action lawsuit, claiming that in their case, the Maels and others had not sufficiently linked Evanger’s to the pentobarbital that harmed their dogs. Evanger’s also claims that the case is weakened by the fact that Maels and others are trying to draw one singular conclusion from instances that were included in the recall and ones that weren’t.

The company says that the plaintiffs “paint with too broad a brush, lumping together dogs that got sick from the recalled, tainted beef products with a dog that got sick after eating non-recalled, non-beef products.” The company claims that with this strategy, there are too many variables of the court to make an accurate determination in the case.

This week, a judge stated that the Maels had not sufficiently established that the pentobarbital that caused their dogs to fall ill was found in Evanger’s, saying that the allegedly related cases “suggest a possible relation between defendants’ Duck and Sweet Potato product and the symptoms, the amended complaint pleads no factual allegations plausibly establishing beyond mere speculation causation between the food and the symptoms.”

So, the court agrees with Evanger’s that the class action lawsuit’s case is insufficient, but has given the consumers until March 13 to amend their complaint, instead of dismissing the lawsuit altogether.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jennifer Rust Murray and Beth E. Terrell of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC and Jessica J. Sleater of Andersen Sleater Sianni LLC.

The Evanger’s Poisoned Dog Food Class Action Lawsuit is Nicole and Guy Mael, et. al. v. Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Co. Inc., et. al., Case No. 3:17-cv-05469, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

UPDATE: On Oct. 18, 2019, Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Co. agreed to pay $545,500 to end class action claims that its pet food is dangerous to animals despite being advertised as “human grade.” 

UPDATE 2: February 2020, the Evanger’s toxic dog food class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.