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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 9 yr old Pekingnese Grandpa Wu(they live to be over 20 yrs old) died in my arms last year.He had been vomiting became listless and went into a violent seizure, my other Pekes were also vomiting and Sosa would have seizures also.It wasnt till Grandpa died that I was told about the dog food they were eating which is Beneful.. I Hate you PURINA…. When I called to complain I was given a Case Number, havent heard from them since, Now What?
If they wont remove it from the shelves then they should be boycotted! My dog also had the vomiting and bloody diarrhea and was getting weaker and weaker we had to get meds from the vet to stop the diarrhea and feed him chicken breast boiled with rice to eat and the broth from it to drink so he would stop vomiting I really dont think it is a coincidence that all of our dogs have either become seriously ill or have died and all of them had 1 thing in common. They were ALL eating BENEFUL
My dog started getting sick with all the symptoms named in the suit way before I even heard about it I took him to vet and they suspected antifreeze poisoning but he is an inside dog and has a fenced in yard in country there is no way he could have gotten into antifreeze. we treated him and the vet said he had acute renal failure and they kept him for a week in the vets office for treatment then sent him home on meds and special food but it was already to late for him after about 4 months or so it took its toll on him and we lost him to this terrible event. He was a healthy older dog up until this episode. I hate that there wasnt anything more I could have done. thanks. Lori
I found a mistake in my comment. My dog, Skip HAS SYMPTOMS…NOT HAD. Thanks, Randi Bartlett
Is the class action against Beniful still ongoing?. My dog Skip has eaten Beniful his whole life and had symptoms relating to the consumption of Beniful and is dying. Please advise if I can join this class action lawsuit. Thank you, Randi Bartlett
I WANT IN ON THIS! I am in NC, We lost our Chocolate Lab, My Daughter Lost 2 Dogs and the 3rd gravely sick. My Friend lost her Black Lab and her small dog got very sick until I told her about Beneful. Which is exactly what she, like my self and my daughter were feeding these Beloved Dogs. Out of these 3 families, that is 4 FOUR Lost Loved Family Members. We miss out lab everyday. All suffered Neurological symptoms before death. It was a VERY PAINFUL DEATH for these Animals.
My yorkie Codybear died this past year. He always ate the Beneful Incredibites. Out of nowhere he got really sick. I took him to the vet and he had pancreatitus and Type 1 diabetes. He also had siezures on and off, but they started getting worse so I had to give him medicine for that daily. He ended up taking the siezure medicine as well as insulin morning and night. The insulin stopped working and I had to let him go. Worst day of my life. If this is what caused him to get sick or even added to him getting sick…idk
We just lost our dog after three months of slow decline. Her sickness began after eat Beneful Healthy Smile dry food. She was diagnosed with kidney failure and got progressively sicker until last week, when she could no long stand or walk. Propylene glycol is not toxic. Ethylene glycol or di-ethylene glycol, a contaminant of propylene glycol, is toxic and kidney failure is often the outcome. I would like to join the lawsuit.
Is there a way to get involved with this class action suit or would we need to find our own attorney. Our dogs have ate Beneful Healthy Weight for years. Out 3 older mid size dogs had occasional upset but we never worried enough to look for a cause. One has moved to a new home, one has passed away, unexplained, sudden onset. The third is still living and has frequent intestinal upset, leading mostly to vomiting. Our largest problem is with out little Monty. He is only 8 pounds so he does not have the same reserves the other dogs have all had. Twice in the last 6 weeks he has nearly died from unknown illnesses. The first time, he began internal bleeding, with lethargy, dehydration, nausea and vomiting. Our vet said he acted poisoned and gave him Vitamin K for that, clotting agents, antibiotics and IV fluids. He was diagnosed with unknown internal bleeding and poisoning. The second illness was much scarier. He began vomiting then lost all control of his bowels, passing red raspberry like stool all over our house. Again, with medications and IV, we got him through He had hemorrhagic gastroenteritis . Either illness would have killed him if we had not responded as quickly as we did.
My dog Isia of nine years passed away May 2014. Her symptoms were similar to your dogs. Isia was my companion and I still am having a hard time accepting the way she died and no longer being here with me. Please contact me.