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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
Our girls both developed bloody diarrhea, blood in their urine, frequently straining to pee, loss of appetite and a number of the symptoms mentioned in many posts. Both our dogs had to have surgery because of stones they developed, in their urinary tracts.
The veterinarian said it was a direct result of having fed them Beneful. She told us she advises all of her pet owners to never feed Beneful. She told us, as well, that she personally had reported all the health problems she was seeing in her animal patients that were being fed Beneful, to Purina. She said she told Purins that she had concluded that the undeniable link between all the cases was that they were being fed Beneful. The surgeries were very invasive and extensive. It put our little girls through great pain, first while they were sick and then again when they were recovering from the surgery. This of course is not to mention that it cost us a few thousand dollars by the time their surgery and after care were complete. Had we not fed our girls Beneful they would never have had to suffer and we would have been spared the worry over them and the significant cost to get them well.
Now, because of what we went through and because of what the Vet told us, we tell everyone about our experience and warn them not to feed their dogs Beneful.
We would be part of the class action suit.
My white German Shepard dog also died and now both my vet and I agree it was about the same time all this crap with the Beneful came about. They killed my dog and I would like to be part of any suit. I also believe this dog food killed my other dog a few months prior. I wonder if the makers feed their dog this crap as well. Why it is still on the shelves of stores same as recalled human food. Go figure population and dog control….. This is horrible.
My yellow lab just died today from a cancer and our vet is pretty dang sure it was the food, he had all the other symptoms to liver failure, massive hair loss that we thought was just winter coat shedding, kidney issues and all the vomiting and those things. My family is looking for a way to get compensated for vet pills at the very least. He was only 10 yrs, he should have had a few more good years left. The fact that this is STILL happening to dogs is unacceptable.
any one fine any place that has taken up this as I was told it has not been flied I think we have many here that would help this if we could fine right one to help us.
lost 2 Boston terrier’s from this junk one was my best friend had her for 7 year’s they should good to jail over this just look at all the die dogs from this crap.
my yorkie died in aug. after eating beneful. I need some guidance.
my little Chihuahua got very sick the first part of the year seems her liver is not functioning correctly and after reading about the benifull dog food I have feed them for years the vet and I are sure it is from this dog food how do I get help with the cost of treatment which is very high an she’s not out of danger yet help please.
Kidneys…he was due to return for a follow up and he didn’t even make it to go back to the vet..I bought him a brand new dog bed from Petsmart and he never got the chance to use it
I don’t know what to say about Purina’s products I have purchased Purina for years… I first started with blue buffalo then I tried a couple of other dog food and settle on Purina I’ve bought puppy chow ,beneful healthy weight and ended up switching to regular beneful dog food I’ve tried several dog treats while using beneful and some dog treats three of my dogs got sick taking three dogs to the vet is costly but the one that suffered the most was my miniature schnauzer Robin I took him to the vet and on the second time to the vet we got home he died in my arms I was so heart broken I still cry about it I was told his kidsneys were failing and he had fluid in his intestines
my yorkie died in aug. after eating beneful. I need some guidance.
I am desperately trying to find more information about what is going on with the suit. My wife and I read about it in March after noticing problems that 1 of our 2 dogs was experiencing at the time. After removing the Beneful from both of their diets, the problems our dog was experiencing went away within a week. Yesterday, October 8th, 2015, the 2nd of our 2 dogs(the one NOT experiencing problems initially), died in my arms. She exhibited every symptom reported by others the day prior, she died before we could get her into the vet. This was my wife’s service dog, a valued family member, and quite honestly, my best friend. I’m broken on the inside. Any information whatsoever would be appreciated. My son and I have cried for 2 days straight, it was all so unexpected. He would like to know more as well. Thank you in advance, Sean(Broken Heart)
My friends dog is really really sick from this dog food. Its been going on for three weeks now. And she has been throwing up. And she wont eat or drink anything. and now her dog cant get up. She wont move. Her nose is dry. And is bleeding from her behind. And my friend is freaking out and dont know what to do. The vet doesnt open till like 7:30 or 8:00. And all of this is happend right now. And i need to know if her dog is about to die or is there still time to save her or can she even be saved. Do u have any advice.