As you may or may not have heard, the internet was abuzz last week with a series of alarming headlines, such as:

PURINA IS KILLING DOGS

or

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST DOG-KILLING BENEFUL POISON

etc, etc.

And as these things tend to do in today’s internet age, the story has taken on a life and momentum of its own, just like last year’s “Eukanuba is killing dogs” story that ended up fizzling out and the “New parvo strain is killing dogs” story that also ended up fizzling out. Remember those? No? They were huge at the time, until they realized there was no actual evidence to support the claim and WHOOSH gone, not that it seems to matter these days.

1-800-BetterCallSaul

I take lawsuits with a big huge salt-lick sized grain of salt, because once you’ve seen what people do in court rooms you gain a grim view of human nature. One veterinarian I know of lost a court case alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress for a phone call that never happened, because the plaintiff was able to bring in several family members to perjure themselves and say they heard the harassing call that never took place.

The veterinarian was able to prove the call never occurred using phone records, and the case was overturned on appeal, but not before the plaintiff called in the local consumer advocate, got the clinic on TV, and had to endure months of people coming into the clinic and yelling at the staff. The damage was done.

Filing a lawsuit is easy. Anyone can do it. I can sue the guy across the street tomorrow if I want to. I’ve never met him or interacted with him, but I could, just because. Winning one, proving damage- that’s another story.

Here’s a hard truth: a lot of dogs die every day, and much of the time we don’t know why because people don’t have the money to spend getting a definitive diagnosis on a 15 year old dog who has been vomiting. So they look to the obvious thing: the food! and never actually learn that the dog’s had a percolating abscess in the liver, or a hemangiosarcoma that metastasized, or any one of a number of things that happen. If 1.5 billion bowls of Beneful got eaten last year, it’s a given some of those dogs will die because that happens in life not because their food killed them; but they’re the easy target.

Here are my own FAQs based on the questions I’ve been getting this past week:

1. Is it possible that Beneful has a problem?

Sure. It is possible the case has merit, but until we see the actual proof I can’t say much about it. Given the fact that the suit mentions “propylene glycol” as an antifreeze analogue (it’s not), it seems to be one more tired rehashing of the whole ‘I can’t pronounce it so it’s bad’ argument people like the Food Babe have made so popular recently. Possible? Yes. Likely? I can’t say I have seen any evidence of it. Dr. Weeth has an excellent analysis here.

Were you to believe every “this kills dogs” claim on the net in the last 10 years, you’d have to have given up the following entirely:

Febreze, Swiffer, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, any commercial dog food, Trifexis, ice water, vaccines, corn, anything with toxins, preservatives, moldy food resulting from lack of preservatives, veterinary care, Advantage, life as we know it.

2. Don’t you believe this poor man?

I believe that the man who filed this lawsuit believes in his heart that this is what killed his dogs. My heart goes out to him for his losses, it truly does. People want accountability for sad events and that is understandable. That still doesn’t prove that the food had anything to do with it.

3. What about melamine? Is your memory so short that you think pet food companies are flawless?

Here’s the thing about the melamine incident I want everyone to remember: Do you know how that story was discovered?

-It was not one person with a Google account and a phone book opened to “law offices.”

-It was not the FDA or companies testing dog food (melamine isn’t something normally tested for.)

-It was individual veterinarians who noticed a pattern, did some digging, talked to each other, and pursued an answer. I watched it happen, and it was incredible. There are some smart vets out there.

I can list about 3 major food problems off the top of my head that veterinarians figured out, and based on their experiences I would agree that not all pet food companies are forthcoming or proactive when it comes to potential issues (none of those companies I am thinking of, by the way, is Purina or any of the other big name companies. They were boutique ‘premium’ brands.) Yes, it happens, but the answers come with careful analysis by trained scientists, not lawyers.

4. If I feed Beneful, should I change my food?

Food is kind of like religion: people get really worked up about it. Each food has its place in the market, and if you’re the type to obsess over food labels and ingredients (nothing wrong with that! I do!) you’re probably purchasing a different category of dog food anyway, right? But this food has its place too, even if it’s not in your house. For plenty of people it’s been working fine.

I say the same thing about this that I do any food: if your personal individual pet is doing fine on their food, I wouldn’t change a thing. If he isn’t? Well, let’s talk. So yes, you should always report weird symptoms to your vet and tell them what the dog is eating (it is one of many, many data points.) Most of the time it is not the food. On occasion, it is.

Any questions? Then carry on. I have to catch up on Walking Dead.

Disclaimer: This post was NOT sponsored by Purina, Nestle, Big Pharma, or Corporate Shills. In fact I’m losing money writing this because I could be working on another project I actually get paid for. Information in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not substitute for mass hysteria generated by your regular inflammatory website.