If you or any of your friends feed the popular dog food Beneful to your beloved dogs, beware. Top Class Actions is reporting that Purina, the maker of Beneful, is being sued for allegedly making thousands of dogs very ill, or even causing them to die.
The suit was filed in a California federal court on February 5th by plaintiff Frank Lucido. Lucido began feeding his three dogs, a German Shepherd, an English Bulldog and a Labrador, Beneful beginning in December 2014. According to Lucido, Beneful was all they ate:
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.
Source: Top Class Actions
The suit claims that more than 3,000 dog owners complained of similar stories, which include internal bleeding, liver malfunction or failure, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, seizures, bloating and kidney failure.
The ingredient in question is propylene glycol, which the suit alleges is an automotive additive (antifreeze). Beneful responds that it’s actually ethylene glycol, not propylene glycol, that’s used in antifreeze, which isn’t precisely true. The most poisonous antifreeze is made of ethylene glycol, but less toxic antifreeze is made of propylene glycol, which is generally considered safe as a human food additive by the Food and Drug Administration.
According to the suit, the food also contains a toxic level of mycotoxins, which are a mold that naturally occur in grains.