ATLANTA — A popular dog food made in metro Atlanta has been named in a class action lawsuit, accused of killing thousands of pets.
Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland first exposed the complaints two years ago.
The food is a kibble called Beneful, made at the Purina plant in Fairburn.
A class action lawsuit seeks to represent thousands of owners who claim Beneful made their pets sick or worse.
"I feel responsible for what the dog eats. So if I give the dog something that made it sick, I'm going to be heartbroken," said dog owner Michael Zmich of Powder Springs.
Zmich is one of those who believes Beneful is responsible for his dog Tasha's lethargy. And he has suspicions about a growth on her abdomen.
"I can't say it came from the Beneful, but it wasn't there before," Zmich said.
A class action lawsuit alleges the food contains substances that are toxic leading to sickness or the death of thousands of dogs.
"These dogs had died or were sick after eating this product. After this product was removed from their diet their dogs improved," said attorney John Yanchunis.
The suit points to recent tests that show the presence of several strains of mold called mycotoxins.
"This is an industry standard rating based on levels multiple mycotoxins. Twenty is considered high risk, Beneful was a 32," said Susan Thixton, a pet food safety advocate, who commissioned the tests done by an independent lab.
She told Strickland that the findings are solid.
"Should we have done something wrong, I'm confident we would have heard from the lawyers of these companies. We've not heard from one of them," Thixton said.
A Purina representative sent Strickland a statement saying:
"First and foremost, there are no quality issues with Beneful. Beneful is a high quality, nutritious food enjoyed by millions of dogs every day.
Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed against Beneful in Northern California. We believe the lawsuit is baseless, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves and our brand. Beneful had two previous class action suits filed in recent years with similar baseless allegations, and both were dismissed by the courts. Class action suits are common in business these days. They are not indicative of a product issue.
Beneful is backed by Purina's strict quality controls and comprehensive food safety program.
Like other pet foods, Beneful is occasionally the subject of social media-driven misinformation. On-line postings often contain false, unsupported and misleading allegations that cause undue concern and confusion for our Beneful customers.
Bottom line: Consumers can continue to feed Beneful with total confidence.
At Purina we're passionate about pets. We encourage anyone with a comment or question about Purina to contact us directly at the toll-free number on every package. For answers to FAQs about Beneful, go to <a href="https://www.beneful.com/frequently-asked-questions">https://www.beneful.com/frequently-asked-questions</a>" <br/> <br/>
"The number of people that have been complaining about it, there has to be something to it," Zmich said.
Zmich is one of the dog owners planning to call the lawyers involved to put his name on the ever lengthening list of potential claimants in the lawsuit.
WSBTV
