If you have pets, these furry friends are part of your family. As such, you want what is best for them. As a consumer and pet owner, you rely on pet food manufacturers to market safe, healthy feeding options. Unfortunately, like foods manufactured for human consumption, sometimes errors, defects, or contamination occur putting your family at risk. One perfect example of this is a recent dog food contamination recall. The recall follows discovery of pentobarbital, a drug used for euthanizing dogs and cats, in some dog foods.
Read on to learn more about the recall, the larger problem of contaminated pet food, and what it could mean for your pets. If you have questions about your rights as a consumer, contact Daic Law to learn more.
Dog Food Contamination with Pentobarbital a Growing Problem?
Party Animal, a dog food manufacturer based in California, issued a recall in April 2017. The recall began after a consumer in Texas took a sample of canned dog food to a lab. Lab testing revealed the dog food tested positive for pentobarbital. It is unusual for food products to contain a drug like pentobarbital. However, out of extreme caution, Party Animal recalled two batches of their canned Cocolicious organic dog food.
The Party Animal recall was the latest in a series of recalls of pet food found to contain pentobarbital. Several varieties of Evanger’s dog and cat food were recalled earlier this year, including products manufactured under the brand name Against the Grain. The contaminated pet food has sickened or killed several animals, leading consumers to file what is now a class-action lawsuit against Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co. and Party Animal, Inc.
Should You Worry about Pentobarbital in Your Pet’s Food?
Consumers should be cautious about the food they purchase for their pets. Many pet food products contain meat and byproducts left over after butchering of cows, chickens, pigs, or other animals. There are, unfortunately, no regulations requiring veterinarians to identify and tag meat collected from euthanized cows. This makes it possible for euthanasia drugs to pass from the animal into the pet food.
Inspired by the illness and death of pets related to the contaminated dog food, Evanger’s has since been advocating for more regulations and oversight on how slaughtered animals are managed, tagged, and allowed in the food stream. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still investigating the pentobarbital contamination and are working with manufacturers to identify and correct problem areas.
Get Help with Dog Food Contamination
At Daic Law, not only do we advocate for protecting your legal rights, we also advocate for the safety and humane treatment of animals. If you have questions about a recall, or need advice about what to do if your pet was harmed by a contaminated product, contact the consumer protection attorney at Daic Law today for a free case evaluation. At Daic Law, we help consumers with legal matters involving unsafe products, insurance recovery, personal injury, and debt defense.
