A lot of dog owners are re-thinking what they feed their pets after a lawsuit was filed claiming that Purina Beneful "resulted in serious illness and death of thousands of dogs."
One of those dog owners is Barb Esp from Coyne Center, Illinois. She says her nearly five-year-old pug, Emma, died in January 2014 after months of seizures and being sick.
"It was undigested dog food in the entire digestive system from her throat through her stomach into her intestines," explained Barb. "They were all inflamed and infected. She was bleeding internally."
Days later, Emma died. Barb said she spent the last year wondering what happened until she saw the lawsuit this week.
"Was it genetic?" she asked. "I don't know. Did Beneful have something to do with it? I'm starting to think so."
A Spokesperson for Purina denies the allegations, stating they believe the lawsuit is baseless.
Davenport Veterinarian, Dr. Michael Thomsen, agrees.
"At this point, there's no evidence that tells us that there's a danger to that food," Dr. Thomsen, from Kimberly Crest Veterinary Hospital, said.
He said if there was any evidence that the claims were true, Beneful would be recalled.
"Purina certainly doesn't want to have a food out there that's causing toxicities to dogs," he added. "I mean, that's a killer for their business so I think that hopefully it doesn't have anything to do with the food."
"Sadly, there's pets and people dying every day, but the vast majority of them aren't food-related," he continued. "They're dying from kidney disease or heart disease or cancer. There's a lot of bad things that happen and most of them aren't because of the food that you're eating."
However, he also said that Beneful is not his top recommendation and he advises every dog owner to talk to their veterinarian about what food their dog should be eating.
"I think there's higher quality foods out there, but that doesn't mean that Beneful is toxic. I just think there's better choices."
Barb said she is making a better choice now, by making her very own vet-approved dog food out of boiled chicken, brown rice, boiled eggs, green beans, and carrots.
"It's got all the vitamins in it that they need, it's got all the protein in it that they need, and they're healthy," she explained.
She says whether the claims are true or not, making her own food is peace of mind for her and her two new pug puppies -- Mia and Max.
"I'm not saying that I shouldn't have done more of my research - maybe that would have helped Emma - but by the same token why don't they have to?" she asked. "If I have to do my homework to make sure that what I'm feeding my dog is good, why don't they have to do their homework to make sure that if there is an issue they take action to change whatever that issue is for the benefit of every animal that they're feeding?"
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Editor’s note: The lawsuit is Frank Lucido v. Nestle Purina Petcare Company, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The attorney contact is James Young with the Morgan & Morgan Litigation Group at 813-275-5272.