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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
My Siberian died with these sudden onset symptom the vet bills ect and finally death. Where do we submit for this. I’m furious and heart broken thinking I caused this trying to buy cheaper food. WHERE IS THIS ENTER LAW SUIT?.
please help me as my german shorthairs have passed because of this , please forward any sign up link you may have , thank you
Call 877-667-4265. I will be calling them myself in the morning.
I just cant believe I have been feeding my dog, Gracie, Beneful Playtime poison since 2009! She developed a lump on her belly and vet said since it was soft and gushy it shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Months later it got big and hard and red. Immediately took her to the animal hospital and he did blood work and other tests and said he wouldn’t know exactly unless he opened her up, or we could watch her real close for other signs or symptoms. It did go down in size and the redness went away yet it is still there and soft. She too has been sick off and on for many years as in puking or gagging up a clear thick and foamy liquid/phlegm. I do feed my dog wet little Caesars also and we are at my sisters a lot; she has 2 cats so Gracie does eat some cat food. I give in and feed her from the table at times, maybe that is what saved her life. Oh I must add, she mainly only ate the red round pieces in the Beneful, she didn’t like the brown, green, or yellow pieces. yet she has eaten plenty of them; eventually I started picking out the red round ones for her. This past week I could not find her brand (Playful time) in any of the stores, then my sister saw it at a grocery store she bought it and at this very minute she is taking it back. How can anyone get by with using and listing the anti freeze and other known toxins in dog food? Sometimes it makes me wonder whats in our human food too!
This sound so familiar!! Buying new food today!!
Bought one bag of Beneful Original a while back. My female dog developed a lump just as the one you describe. I didnt associate it with the food. She had too much gas eating it, so I switched to another brand. Vet said the lump which came up rather suddenly was an infection and tried treating with antibiotics but it did not go away. She is scheduled for surgery March 5. I really hate the idea of surgery on an infection but I check that lump every few hours.
Arttifcal dye #5 yellow causes tumors. Fed my Yorkie Caesars for 9 years then vet took off a mast cell tumor, cancer. Watchout for anything artifical. I called Caesars and told them about it, stopped using and went to Blue Buffalo. Winston died Feb.20 and my heart is broken. Oh…Purina treats have #5 yellow dye.
My dog would not eat this food and so I stopped giving it to him. I thought that I was giving my dog something healthy to eat. This really upsets me. I have switched to Taste of the Wild. This is just heartbreaking.
My Siberian died with these sudden onset symptoms
I fed my French Bulldog, Meiko, this food as a puppy until his death, June 2014. One morning at 0530 I came down stairs to take him for his morning walk, when I walked in the kitchen he was breathing rapidly, foaming at the mouth and had lost control of his bowels. He couldn’t move from the spot he was in, as soon as the Vet opened I took him in, they immediately told me he needed surgery and was very likely to die enroute. She stated as soon as she took him back he started bleeding internally, from the nose and mouth….he died on the table. He wasn’t even 2 yrs old. I want in on this lawsuit.
My very healthy 7 year old golden retriever was fed beneful as well. In 2013-2014 -she suddenly lost over 20 pounds between Christmas and January 5 – the vet did some testing and found her kidneys were failing. At first she responded a bit to iv treatments and medication. After a week she had to be humanly euthanized. My dog never had any health issues and was very active…..I’m still heartbroken. I did not have an autopsy done. 1. How can I prove the cause may have been beneful? 2. How does one join the class action suit?
Same thing happened to our Golden this past September , she was only 5 years old. Never thought that there was a connection to the food.. So sorry for your loss.
I would like in on this as well I lost my most dear german shorthairs please help me or forward a link to sign up ,thank you
Same thing with ours but he lived. But the emergency surgery came with a $2000. Price tag. He was breathing rapidly, barely moving, throwing up, bowels were impacted with the food and had gas pockets all over.
sorry for loss of your baby
We were feeding our lab beneful and though the bloodline in the akc line he developed a tumor and died 90 days later
We were feeding our lab beneful and though it had no history of illness in the akc line he developed a tumor from eating beneful and died
I have also experienced sickness in my dogs when using this dog food, is this a recall? What do I need to do?
Stop feeding your dog Beneful!!! Why anyone would feed their dogs that supermarket crap is beyond me. Buy a meat based dog food from a pet food store.
OMG! I started given my shit zu this food about 2 months ago and I started to notice that he vomits alot then he goes some days with out eating. his stole is alittle different. Taking him to the vet today to see whats going on. I gove him the dry and wet for puppies.
My Lab now has skin tumors
Does dog food have artifical dye? Dye #5 Yellow causes mast cell tumors. My Yorkie died Feb.20 of the food I fed him. I am mad as H- – L. In Purina treats too !