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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
Thank GOD! Our members have been waiting for this – almost 4,000 of us whose dogs have bene killed or sickened by BENEFUL! https://www.facebook.com/groups/Is.BENEFUL.killing.DOGS/
Is it only this line of purina? My daughter found my shit Zue dead on December 19th. She was fine 3.5 hours before. We had bought a new bag of purina one heathy weight formula dog food. There is nothing that she got into and our vet was at a loss. This is why I am wondering if it’s only the one line of food.
Tara…please have your vet join the Facebook page and read all of the files. My vet was all for that. She had not been informed about Beneful.
My Yorkie died (actually bled out) a yr ago and they thought it was possibly a slow poisoning. Now I wonder if it was this dog food. :(
I switched my dog last month from Purina Puppy Chow to Benefit Puppy Blend and when I did she fell deathly ill. She could not control her bowels. She nearly died of dehydration. Beneful should be banned.
Ive had several dogs that lived very very old ages….they were extremely healthy throughout their whole lives and that is what we fed them strictly….in fact we tried other foods as they would not eat anything else. Im sorry for any losses of pets but isnt it like people? Some things make us sick and some dont…its an unfortunate part of life. Maybe it was a bad bag or some other unexplainable issue. And im sorry but some of these accusations are so ridiculous im amazed. I have a turtle now so if she dies I will look for blame.
Robin…have you actually read the files (there are many) about the dogs and cats that have died, become violently ill, or have developed seizures from eating Beneful? Believe me, as one of those dog parents who has made a warranted accusation about the cause of the death of my dog, I take offense to your comment about any accusations being ridiculous. It was difficult enough to have to watch all 5 of my dogs become ill from eating this crap and then to have to make the decision to let one of the dogs I held when he came into this world and held when he left this world, go with peace and dignity, knowing it was I who fed him every day and, without knowing it, was poisoning him. Please have a little compassion for those of us who know for a fact that Beneful was at fault.
My dog has been eating Beneful for over two years now. He is healthy and happy. I may switch but will look more into it.
We buy Beneful all the time and had to put our dog Prince down after he started bleeding from his rectum. The vet said he had two types of cancer.
Melissa…my vet thought it was cancer also, but if you read the files about the deadly effects of Beneful, you will see that what appears to be a blockage in the intestines is not cancer, but damage from poisoning. My vet is joining the Facebook page to get more information so she can help prevent others from suffering the grief we have experienced since losing our Pooh Bear.
I was on vacation and my son bought this food instead of my usual food. My 5 year old yellow lab began losing weight and was later found to have kidney failure. I lost her a few months later. Now I know why. It cost me a thousand dollars in vet bills and no dollar amount high enough in heartbreak. I will file for sure for my beloved Lucky.
I feed my dog ginger this food and she does vomit sometimes can’t believe all the stories I’m hearing about about this dog food..o will be throwing away the few cans I have left..how do I become part of this lawsuit.. I want in.
So it starts! Hopefully many more class actions across the country will surface… Educate yourselves pet owners, and beware!!! We also lost our wonderful family member and pet Ellie to this monstrosity act! We still have 2 bags of this murderous food that could be tested as well as x rays of our dog, which shows her enlarged intestines pushing her organs to one side of her spine. It also shows her liver and kidneys looking much like Swiss cheese. We had to put Ellie to sleep because it was just too far along this downward passage. We now keep her ashes in a box urn sitting on the dresser of our bedroom so she can remain a big part of our lives. Such a traumatic experience my entire family had to go through. Sad, just so sad. I curse you Purina until the day I die! If there is any way we could join in on this action, or if another starts in Maryland, please let us know!!! Sincerely, Jerry Bozic and family. RIP Ellie Girl, we miss you so much.
So shocked. I give my dog this but never again.