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Nestle Purina Petcare Company was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that its Beneful dog food includes toxic substances which are capable of killing dogs.
According to the Beneful class action lawsuit filed in a California federal court by plaintiff Frank Lucido on Feb. 5, Beneful is responsible for making thousands of dogs either seriously ill or causing them to die, which happened to one of his own dogs.
Lucido owned three dogs — a German Shepherd, an English Bulldog and a Labrador. He bought a bag of Beneful for the first time in late December 2014 or early January 2015 and each dog began eating Beneful exclusively, the Beneful class action lawsuit explains.
On Jan. 15, the German Shepherd began to lose a large amount of hair and began giving off a unusual odor, which concerned Lucido and his wife, who first started to notice the symptoms. Two days later the German Shepherd became “violently ill.”
After being examined by a veterinarian, it was determined that the German Shepherd was suffering from internal bleeding in the dog’s stomach and the liver was also malfunctioning, which the veterinarian said was “consistent with poisoning.”
On Jan. 23, Lucido’s wife found the English Bulldog dead in their yard. “Post-mortem veterinary examination revealed signs of internal bleeding in the dog’s stomach and lesions on his liver, much like [the German Shepherd],” the class action lawsuit claims.
The Labrador also became ill and is being tested for similar problems.
Lucido claims that he and his wife “have suffered economic losses including the purchase price of Beneful and veterinary and related medical expenses” as result of the damage Beneful has done to their dogs.
According to the Beneful class action lawsuit, there have been more than 3,000 complaints posted by dog owners on the internet “about dogs becoming ill, in many cases very seriously ill, and/or dying after eating Beneful.
“The dogs show consistent symptoms, including stomach and related internal bleeding, liver malfunction or failure, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, seizures, bloating, and kidney failure,” the Beneful toxic dog food class action lawsuit alleges.
Lucido gives several examples of these complaints by other dog owners.
According to Lucido, Beneful is advertised as a healthful and nutritional dog food, but his experience and others has been the opposite.
Beneful dog foods allegedly include propylene glycol, which is “an automotive component that is a known animal toxin and is poisonous to cats and dogs.”
In addition, the Beneful class action lawsuit alleges that the dog food includes mycotoxins, which are “a group of toxins produced by fungus that occurs in grains, which are a principle ingredient in Beneful.”
The class action lawsuit cites the Association for Truth In Pet Food, which tested “Beneful Original and found that it contained dangerous levels of mycotoxins.”
Lucido is looking to represent two classes — a nationwide class and a California subclass for dog owners “who purchased Beneful dog food in the past four years and who incurred any out of pocket costs due to illness, injury or death of their dog resulting from the ingestion of Beneful.”
The Beneful toxic dog food class action lawsuit is charging Nestle Purina with breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, strict products liability, violating California’s consumer legal remedies act, violating California’s Unfair Competition Law, and violating California’s False Advertising Law.
The plaintiff is represented by Jeffrey B. Cereghino of Ram, Olson, Cereghino & Kopcyzynski, by John Yanchunis of Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, by Karl Molineux of Merrill, Nomura & Molineux, and by Donna F. Solen of Kimbrell Kimbrell & Solen LLC.
The Beneful Toxic Dog Food Class Action Lawsuit is Frank Lucido v. Nesltle Purina Petcare Company, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
UPDATE: On Nov. 17, 2016, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted summary judgment to Purina, rejecting testimony from the plaintiffs’ expert that suggested Beneful dog food was the direct cause of their dogs’ illnesses or deaths.
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448 thoughts onPurina Beneful Dog Food Kills Dogs, Class Action Says
I was feeding my dogs this product and now I wonder if this was the reason for his demise… Like others his sickness came on in a short period of time.
Was this product recalled? I feed my little Daisy this and do not remember getting a notice.
My dog Ginger ate the Benefill and died from tumors. Wondering now if this Purina Benefill was a factor….What a shame.
My beloved, incredibly special Scott Terrier died on the operating table when the vet found her entire system covered in tumors and she bled to death because her abdomin was full of blood. Guess what food she ate? She was only 7!
Lost my 10 year old Yorkie because of Mast cell tumors on Feb 20. I believe the cause was his food and treats. Dye #5 caused his cancer. My saddness is overwhelming as I am sure you feel the same way.
I was feeding my dog the dry as a treat, he kept having severe ear infections and couldn’t figure out why, my vet asked if I was doing anything different and I kept saying no, then I remembered I was giving him the dry, I stopped and so did the infections , he did develop health issues down the road,too late to say if this was the cause
Our beloved german shepard “Gretchen”past away last year, we fed her this food often as i recall, she was very healthy although getting in her upper years and fell ill all of a sudden, or vet had no explanation of her illness and we had to put her down, I certainly hope that this food wasn’t the cause!
I have been buying beneful for my chinese crested since she was a puppy in 2009. She has sick all the time,even now. I never associated it with her food.I have taken her to the vet, although they never ran test. they gave me medication, but it still has not helped. I will not purchase anymore beneful dog food for my pet.
Try a higher quality food that is grain free! I use 4 health turkey and potato grain free for all my dogs and it has done wonderful things for their bodies, and fur :) there are a bunch of Good foods out there! Look at pet food advisor it will tell you alot about foods :)
I also switched to 4 Health after my dogs started having seizures when eating baneful. They haven’t had one since!
Lost my 10 year old Yorkie Feb.20 2015…Dye#5 yellow causes mast cell tumors. In so many foods for dogs, treats too.
My sweet Dixie just had Beneful this morning….wow….now I am terrified
I used to buy the wet Beneful for my dog as a special treat and had no issues but did try him on the dry food and it made him so gassy we took him off it within a few days. He had no lasting issues but the gassiness was a sign to us that it wasnt the right food for him.
My dog died yesterday from this food!
Mine die a year ago on the EXACT same day from this!!! so sorry 4 your loss.
I am so very sorry for your loss. My heart goes out to you. My two dogs died from eating Beneful. I knew nothing about how dangerous it was. It sickens me to think I fed this to my babies. I have done my research since then and only feed Fromms or Merrick.
Was there a recall on this food, We feed out dogs the wet and dry Beneful, We have 9 mini pins. and we have a bag of this food in the garage. Thank God our dogs didn’t die, and I feel sorry for the pet owners who loss theirs dogs.
My teacup poodle died eating benecrap…contains propylene glycol…antifreeze…research it…we now use grain free mostly…
Sorry for your losses. Not sure about the propylene glycol, however. Research shows there is food grade propylene glycol… and it, too, is in EVERYTHING – pet food and human use foods. It’s doubtful they would use automotive grade.
Sorry – you are obviously not aware that the FDA found INDUSTRIAL grade Propylene Glycol at the Chinese jerky manufacturing plants that supplied Purina with their killer Waggin Train and Canyon Creek Ranch Jerky treats? Beneful is 1% Propylene Glycol which can be contaminated by lethal Di-Ethylene Glycol or, if it has been made from Jatropha used as biofuel, then it will contain lethal Ricin and Curcin.. the ONLY available test for Ricin is extremely expensive and only available in cases of suspected terrorism.. FDA wants industry to watch for glycerin from Jatropha – Plant popular in biodiesel produces potentially toxic byproducts – http://www.fiercepharmamanufacturing.com/story/fda-wants-industry-watch-glycerin-jatropha/2012-07-10
Maybe this can help–more data. Our Dachsund was sick for three years from eating Nutra Max dry dog food. We did confirm it was this food, because once we switched to a different brand our dog was no longer sick. I realize its not Purina food, but my point is both different brand foods may have that common food active ingredient that is the root cause of effecting all of these dogs.
Concerned for my 2 yorkies now. I bought a bag of this about 3 weeks ago. My dogs eat small amounts of dry food. They have both been sick lately. This news is disturbing !
My German Shepherd has diarea, loss of hair and weight loss and gurgling stomach. He’s been on beniful since a pup. Numerous vet visits ,money spent dog is suffering and so am I and my kids. I don’t know what to do, please help my buddy Frankie. I’m a single dad of 2 boys and can’t afford anymore vet bill.
ethylene glycol is traditional antifreeze, not propylene glycol. Not to say that ingesting propylene glycol is good or anything.
My dog Rosie a golden retriever died in Jan 2012, from unknown reasons and I listened to her die and there was nothing me or anybody else could do I fed her Benifull her whole life, how do I get involved in this lawsuit. I had Rosie from a pup and if corporations can get away with this for dog food, what else are they getting away with
Id like to know the same information. I fed my golden retriever Beneful his whole life and he died young a week after taking him to the vet for vomiting and bloody diarrhea. This happened in 3/2013.
I lost a lab a couple of years ago to the same symptoms. I feed my younger lab the Beneful food and she throws up a lot. I thought she had a sensitive stomach..I dont believe that anymore. i want to be involved in this lawsuit also. Purina Beneful will not be purchased by me anymore and I will make sure all of my friends know it!
We had issues with bloody stools in late 12/early 13 vet put him on meds and completely changed his diet started with rice. Then slowly introduced foods. 2 years later… we bought a bag of benniful in Dec. Vomiting started, at least 2 seizures, tons of gas & Upset stomach. Went back to rice a little over a week ago and already see changes.
I fed Beneful to my golden for almost her entire life. When she died in 9/13, she refused to eat and vomited if she tried. she had intense diarrhea and weakness. I had to hold her up so she didnt go on herself. I ultimately found out she was eaten up with Liver cancer. I want to join this lawsuit.
I have raised Great Danes for 45 years. Always in pairs of same litter puppies. My Gracie & Maggie turned 8 last year, they started losing weight,health probs.and growing large Tumors,Maggie’s. Biggest tumor was on her belly,no not Mastitus. Tumor grew into size of large tumor size of lg,Nerf football. Long story short,sister helped me pay vet bill over $3000.00, too late she went down hill, after month she could no longer do stairs quit eating, and I didn’t want to feed her pain pills forever obviously her looking at me with those sad eyes, and wanting to stay in bed. I chose to send her to heaven. That was just April 2014. Now my dogs are my life,out of a bad divorce after 32 years, they were my saviors to love me through that and many bad health issues. Crohn’s disease,diabetes, Fibromyalgia for 40 years. Plus so many operations. My girls took my pain and illness’a by being my health Doggie MEDICINE when pain, sadness, sorrow, and horrible bad luck.Maggie was 160 lbs and Gracie my Harlequin at 1time 250 lbs. they were my gentle Giants. Then in October my Gracie grew tumor size of gum ball to a huge softball in a month. Outcome was the thing tying them together was PURINA DOG FOOD! After a month I had to send Gracie to heaven. I was and am still devastated and mourning as it was Oct.2014, I lost her. Now I have no big beautiful girls. My Great Danes in Heaven w/ Mom& Dad and hundreds of my horses,dogs,now ow I have to cry alone even tho I had to move in with him, in order to sell house for cdivorce, he’s a great Son, but after 3 years he gets mad at work or traffic or bills and tells me to get the F out even if on the streets. 3 years of this. I let him live with me till he was 30 years old. He was nvr home, always working or Firehall. And always ate out. My ex was pushing him out at 16 so we could have alone time. I hated my ex. So after losing both my 8 year old Beauties, I have been trying so hard to find a place I can afford.& then will get 2 more Great Danes But will never buy another PURINA PRODUCT! It wasn’t just dogs, but read lawsuit and see it was also all other animals we love. Cats,gerbils,horses the list goes on forever.PURINA KILLED MY GREAT DANES AT 8 years old with cancer and tumors ripping through their bodies.i miss them so much. At 59 I’m still crying and when I hear of a Another death from Purina I get so upset..and my girls aren’t there to cuddle and hug and love me while my tears go down their precious bodies. I’m wearing out. But I will b seeing them soon, and my family & other pets, up in heaven.
Our dog Roxi ate Beneful for the last year and a half of her life. She was an American bulldog. She was well and active a few days before she died. Her leg started swelling and she could,nt walk on it. We thought she may have broken it somehow. She was in great pain so we took her to the Vet. They gave her all kinds of tests but nothing positive came up. They sent her home with medication, she died that night of a horrible death. They decided it was bleeding ulcers. We now believe it was the beneful dog food.
I have 6 dogs (my wife worked in a rescue group), and all of them started to get sick after we switched to Beneful from Solid Gold (which was just too experience). We lost a Staffordshire Terrier during our Beneful phase, and we strongly suspect that its related to the dog food. We have switched to Trader Joes brand, which the dogs like much better, and they are satisfied after eating less of it. Its a bit more expensive, but with the difference in quantity, its about the same. Dogs look and act distinctly healthier.
Solid gold was too *expensive*. Dang auto-correct.
What does grain free have to do with propylene glycol? BTW…it has many uses, even in medicines for the past 60 years. Research the facts, not just opinions. No recal because no one found a reason it can be.
Please stop feeding it. Makes me cry when people continue feeding when they’ve heard the horror that has happened. No, not recalled, because it’s all about the money. Thousands of pets will die, but I assure you, mine won’t be one of them
Same here. We changed to raw meat and bones about 20 yrs ago and also stopped vaccines. Our dogs are incredibly healthy and we have no expensive veterinary bills. People must learn that food is the most important thing if you want good health.
Not money, but because no one can find the product is harmful, or it is defective. There has been testing after testing by consumers and they find nothing.
My pin will only eat this food and he is fine.
My dog has been eating this dog food sence she’s been a puppy she 3 now and perfectly healthy.
My six year old dogs ate Beneful for probably 3 years before they got sick from it. Please stop feeding it to your precious pet!
Our precious family pet ate this for 3 years and had several symptoms prior to passing a month ago. We are still hard broke and grieving the loss.
My min pin ate this food for around 8 years and got sick during this time with all the symptoms listed in the suit, she passed away this weekend at 11 years old with severe digestion disease. We started feeding her a high protein food about 3 years ago and seen a difference, I think it helped her live a little longer.
Look at the ingredients..The worst food on the market..Dyes are carcinogenetic which this is full of as well as BHA..proven cancer causing agent..derived from kerosene …Throw it away..get a clean food like Blue or anything without these ingred. and grain soy and corn free…
Please be careful with Blue products also. Our German Shepherd became very ill with a UTI that would not go away. She bled and went through three different antibiotics. We changed from Blue Wilderness to a homemade diet and she got better quickly. We thought we were doing the right thing for her with Blue.
I have 6 Toy Poodles and have been feeding this food for over 20 years, never had a sick day with any of my pets only routeen checkups and shots. The only thing I do is change the flavour one month chicken, one month Beef and one month Salmon just to give them a taste change.
My dog is eight, he has never been sick from Beneful either.
Please stop feeding it to your animals. What would you do if they suddenly came down sick all because of ignorance? My dog is very sick from Beneful. How can I get involved in this lawsuit to stop them? I am sickened that they haven’t recalled it!!!!
how can one get in on this lawsuit? I have a friend
I would like to know as well. We gave our dog this food 5 days ago. He immediately fell ill and sadly passed away last night. He was perfectly healthy before. Our family is heartbroken.
so sorry Rhonda – I am interested in more info also – I lost my 1 yr 11 mo old doxie Dec 14, 2014 and was also feeding Beneful.
The attorneys told us that ANYONE in the US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265 or 407-452-6990 They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime!
Thank you for the information. Our sweet, sweet boy Ozzie died of liver complications because of this dog food. He also needed surgery for blindness about a year before that.
Thank you for this information – I lost my 1yr 11 month doxie suddenly and I was feeding her Beneful.
thank you for posting a phone number for interviews.. we also lost a sweet dog to this.. someone needs to stop this.. way to many losses
Thank you so much for these numbers. My dear little Boston Terrier is fighting for his life in the hospital. He ate Purina Beneful.
I would love to know as well. My four legged girl Lexi passed on 2/2013. I took her to the vet in September and in October she became ill and eventually pass. The vet could not understand how she became so ill so fast. She weighed 6 pounds before getting ill with severe diarrhea and vomiting. She was down to 2 1/2 pounds when she passed. I now make my girls food as I don’t want to become ill
My grandpas dog ate baneful since she was a puppy and died of kidney failure.
There is no recall – Nestle/Purina are WAY too powerful to submit to a recall. Companies like them and Monsanto essentially OWN the FDA! However, this Class Action IS going places! The attorneys for this case told us that ANYONE in the US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265 or 407-452-6990 They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – NOW! Participation will not cost you a dime! Oh, and please join the group – almost 800 new members in the Facebook group in the last 24 hours alone. Some of the stories are simply harrowing :( Is BENEFUL by Purina KILLING or SICKENING Dogs? Post YOUR Story! https://www.facebook.com/groups/Is.BENEFUL.killing.DOGS/
We had to put our boxer down last week. He ate beneful dry mixed with beneful wet exclusively for the past 8 years. He has been vomiting with diaharrea for the past 2 months. The vet said he was sure it was lymphoma. Are we a candidate?
Would this also be the same in Canada as well? I would die if it was of me that my dog dies?
Then they should be boycotted
Is it to late to join in on this. The reason I ask is I got a small dog mix and I got himback in October 2014 had him eight months feed him beneful puppy food dry he got sick throwing up loss control of his bowels starting bleeding thru his bowel took him to the vet and he died the next morning. So can I still get in on this because I am sure that is what happen to him bevause he was a healthy dog until I feed him beneful dog food
Throw it out immediately, or take it back to the store from which you purchased it and demand your money back!
I bought some Beneful Healthy Growth puppy food last night for the first time, and only one of my two dogs tried it. The next morning she was vomiting and upset stomach. I am So upset that the store I purchased this at is still selling this crap!!!!
No recall has been made to my knowledge. Purina is stead fast about their food being safe for dogs. I just lost my dog of 10 years (aussie/blue heeler mix), due to kidney failure (out of no where). I was feeding her Beneful Healthy weight. Im so upset over this right now ……
The money grubbing executives at Purina should be force fed a diet of Beneful for 9 years. I hope they rot in Hell.
My Sharpei mix got really sick and the vet said she had liver issues, heart issues and needed to be medicated to hell with the seizures she started having. She continues to get worse and would pee all over herself, and her liver was so swollen her stomach started bulging out. We made the very difficult decision to put her to rest and she was put to sleep today. I googled her condition to see if there was anything else we could have done for her because I felt so awful having to make the decision to put her down and found all of these reports about Purina Beneful dog food!! That’s what I have been feeding her for the past 1 1/2 years!! Why is this dog food still on the shelves?
Help (didn’t mean to type hell)
I hope you have stopped feeding your dogs this food.. I lost my sweet boy last year to heart cancer, and it was only after the fact that I found out about all of these lawsuits against Purina. We fed him only Beneful for a very long time. I have no doubt that his diet contributed greatly (if not caused) his tumor to grow. I wish I had known better. I would still have my baby with me.