WARNING Health ALERT for any Beneful dog food feeders

We all know how horrible this food is anyways but I posted this just in case some people visiting the forum feed it or some of our fellow Chazzers
Beneful Dog Food is Suspected of Causing Sickness and Deaths

HEALTH ALERT! .....

Discontinue use of Beneful until this is resolved!

Multiple Reports We have received multiple reports of dogs becoming sick or dying after eating Beneful dog food. The first reports were placed in our new forum and was overlooked by DoggyBling.com staff until we received direct emails last week and then another today.

After speaking on the phone with the lady who emailed us today, we feel that there is sufficient cause for alarm. Dog lovers make a lot of effort to take good care of their dogs and will want to know if they are feeding them something that could be harmful. Most of the alerts by email, forum and phone cited Beneful dog food that was purchased at Wal Mart around Christmas of 2006.

We spoke with Terri Culp at Beneful this morning and were assured that they are aware of the situation and are researching the problem. We assured them that this won't go away and we would be alerting our email base of the problem and posting a news item on our site. We also told her that DoggyBling.com visitors and dog lovers everywhere would be evaluating the way the Purina Corporation (Parent to Beneful) handles the potential crisis.


Symptoms

The symptoms reported have been very similar. The reported symptoms include some or all of the following:

General weakness or sluggishness, glazed eyes, not interested in food or water, white gums, lack of control of bodily functions. Some of the callers reported dogs that have died and others say they had gotten sick but had recovered. I am inserting the first forum post about a dog that became sick, but didn't die.

A week before Christmas we bought a bag of Beneful dog food at Wal-Mart, DeFuniak Springs, FL. On 12/23 I noticed a tan mold like growth on the dog food. Our 14 year old Dalmatian mix had been getting weaker by the day and by 12/24 she was near death. Glazed eyes, couldn't stand, eat, drink or control her functions. Her gums were white. We had to carry her to the yard and hold her up so she could go. The only thing she would eat was ham and turkey s*****. I spoke with a microbiologist and she said the mold growing in the dog food was toxic. It took a week for Sparky to regain her strength. I did notify the manufacturer of Beneful, they were very sorry and are sending coupons. Said it was a rare happening.


Notify us if your dog has had symptoms after using Beneful We are going to stay on top of this situation and would like to know if your dog has had any of the symptoms listed above after eating Beneful. If so, please send an email to [email protected] or give us a call at 904-430-0260. Either way, please pass this email and information to dog lovers who may be feeding this food to their dog.

UPDATES:

Updates and Beneful's response and precautionary action will be listed in our news section. We know Purina will take this seriously and will not want to tarnish their company's positive reputation.

I can never understand why anybody would feed a pet that crap to begin with. It just goes to show you what marketing can achieve. I really think there should be imprison laws for companies that market crap like Beneful to innocent pet lovers for the sake of profit. If this turns out to be true, it wouldn't surprise me at all. As for Purina worrying about their reputation, well this isn't the only terrible product that speaks for them.

Look at this web site. You would think this crap was ice cream.
http://www.beneful.com/products/

I'll admit that before I read up on nutrition I purchased a bag of Beneful for my AB. She woke me up that evening after her first meal and had diarrhea so bad the she couldn't make it to the door before she pooped all over. She was shaking violently and couldn't stop having loose BM's. Mind you this was due to one feeding. I threw out the bag and read up on dog food and am proud to say the we feed Dick Van Pattens now! I think that David Duchovny should be sent the a copy of the dog food grading scale along with the scores!

i have fed Belle some of the puppy kind when she was littler and she did have diarrhea I never fed it to her again after that.

Sixers, Most people don't learn about nutrition and wouldn't really have to if manufacturers didn't produce crap and market it like it's caviar. That is why companies can take advantage of them with great TV ads complete with cutie little doggies that look so healthy they are sure to live till age 30 if you just feed little Snoopy this food right here...

Beneful is bad for your dog. Imagine that?

Hopefully people will start taking a closer look at the diet they give their dogs.

I feel really sad for the dogs that are fed Beneful and diets like it. I feel even sadder for the dogs that are going through such extreme illness because of the food they are being fed. It's really too bad such diets exist.

Do you have the direct link to this article? I am friends with a couple who feed Beneful (the guy refuses to switch the food). Maybe this will convince them to switch to something better.

It is so awful that foods like this exist. Beneful has to be one of the worsts. I wish that people would just turn the bag around and read the ingredients. Common knowledge should tell most people that dogs are carnivorous animals, and do not benefit from garbage like this.

You could tell them to feed saw dust moistened with some red dye.

The thing is, most people aren't really into studying what's good and what isn't. I have a friend who feeds SD "Advanced Protection" because she thinks her dog has some kind of protective aura from it. If you read the bag, you know the only thing her dog is protected from is...meat.

^^^ Haha! Well, we all know that ground yellow corn, food dye and wheat middlings are better than meat

I love the big ear of corn on the Beneful bag. Mmm... Beneful... made with freeze dried veggies and bone meal. Exactly what I want in a dog food

YUP! We recommend feeding this crap at our clinic. I secretly the few I can that it is overpriced bird crap! Then fill them in on the truth about CORN MEAL! I know that it will be the end of my job if anyone finds out but when a dog with only a few years left comes in I think of what it will be like to eat a good meal from here on out!

LOL! That was so hard for me to keep my mouth shut at the clinic I worked at. I was suppose to push Science Diet and hated every moment of it. The clients would ask me "what do you feed?" Hmmmm...now how do I answer that, lol!

I too would like a direct link to this article. It might save some dogs from becoming ill, to spread this information.

Update on the Blog report on the Beneful problems


http://www.doggybling.com/newsarticle.php?id=1073

I really just skimmed this thread but one thing that always stands out to me is how so many here (we Chazzers) think that people who feed beneful are stupid or don't care. I can't tell you the number of clients homes that I go to that feed beneful and totally believe that they are feeding their dog the very best (until I tell them otherwise) . Many seniors especially see the beneful commercials on TV and think "WOW..look how great it looks, all the pretty colors and shapes". It's so easy to forget (for me included) that not everyone has access to good information.

As for the warning, pretty scary stuff. I now have even more ammo to give to my clients to convince them to switch to a better food.

Dr2, when you talk somebody out of food like that you must walk away feeling like you saved a life!

when Hershey was a year or so, we fed him that stuff, and he had diarreah like crazy! euu, never fed it again.

Beneful Update from Dottie Laflamme

I am the owner of four dogs, as well as a veterinarian and board-certified veterinary nutritionist working for Purina. I have been personally involved in Purina’s investigation into the recent concerns raised about Beneful dry dog food. In addition, I have been in contact with the veterinarians for several of the dogs whose owners feel may have had an adverse reaction to Beneful. As a dog owner myself, I understand the concern of dog owners to provide the best care possible for their pets, and so I want to share with you how Purina has been responding to this situation.

Purina launched an immediate and thorough investigation in an attempt to determine if the food was indeed causing dogs to become sick. Food samples from our plants, from the store and from consumers have been examined by Purina as well as by outside laboratories.

In a nutshell, all of these tests have indicated the complete safety of Beneful and provide no data to support a link between Beneful and the deaths of these dogs. But, I’d like to share a bit more detail, so you realize that Purina truly did an extensive investigation.

Purina conducted numerous tests to confirm the quality and safety of Beneful, including physical and microscopic examination, analytical testing for a broad spectrum of mycotoxins, including aflatoxin, as well as for the presence of pesticides. These examinations were conducted by Purina quality assurance experts and by independent laboratories. All samples tested passed with flying colors on all counts. In addition, I personally talked with the Texas veterinarian who, at the request of his client, submitted a sample to Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for aflatoxin analysis. He assured me that the results he received for aflatoxin also were negative.

Please know that all of us at Purina are saddened by the loss of these consumers’ pets – and our compassion for all pets requires us to have total confidence in the quality of our pet foods. Purina takes every pet owner’s concern very seriously. If you have questions or comments about Beneful, now or in the future, you can contact Purina at 1-888-BENEFUL, or click here www.beneful.com/feb2007news for a complete update.

Dr. Dottie Laflamme, DVM, Ph.D., DACVN

^^^ Even if Beneful doesn't contain toxins, I would never consider it a "safe" nor quality food for any dog.

Thanks for the info/update. However, why doesn't Purina start making a better quality food and use real wholesome ingredients instead of worrying about their advertisements and marketing schemes $$$$$$ to get uneducated people to feed it to their dog. Bogus food and would never reccommend it to anyone.