Purina Beneful dog food is facing a new lawsuit which claims that the food has caused the death of thousands of dogs.
The Beneful dog food brand is owned by Nestle Purina and it has been the subject of complaints for many years.
James Young, a lawyer from Tampa, said that the lawyers from all over the US have started to connect the dots and realize that it all leads to this particular dog food.
Young said that the common denominator is the Beneful dog food and the fact that so many dogs have been affected by this brand is “compelling”.
The latest lawsuit is focused on the case of Frank Lucido’s three dogs. Lucido claims he started feeding his animals Beneful food after placing them in three different places while he renovated his own home.
A short time after he started to feed the dogs Beneful, one of the dogs, a 4 year old German shepherd, started to lose its fur and smell bad.
The dog soon became very ill, with internal bleedings and malfunctions of the liver. Although the dog survived, she still has serious health problems.
A few days later, another one of his dogs, an eight year old English bulldog died of internal bleeding and liver failure.
Lucido’s last dog, an 11 year old Labrador got sick and is now undergoing medical testing.
The lawsuit claims that Beneful contains powerful toxins, such as propylene glycol and mycotoxin, which are responsible for poisoning the dogs.
Mycotoxin is produced by the mold found in the grains Beneful is made of. These substances pose a real health risk to animals, and some of the reported symptoms are similar to those caused by mycotoxin poisoning.
The other compound, propylene glycol, is approved by the FDA as a food additive, which can also be found in foods like cake mix and salad dressing.
But the same chemical is used in antifreeze and has been known to cause health problems in humans.
Young and his lawyer colleagues will look to see whether these two chemicals found in the Purina Beneful dog food could be harmful for dogs.
Purina officials said in a statement that the Beneful brand has no quality problems.
Image Source: myitchydog