Seresto Flea Collars and Pet Deaths or Injuries Missouri Class Action

How would you feel if you bought flea and tick collars to protect your pets, and one of your dogs and one of your cats ended up dying? The complaint for this class action alleges that pets and even their owners may be harmed by the pesticides contained in Seresto collars. Bayer HealthCare, LLC and Elanco Animal Health, Inc. are the companies responsible for making and selling the collars.

The class for this action is persons in Missouri who bought a Seresto flea collar during the applicable statute of limitations.

Seresto collars are advertised as a way to protect dogs and cats from fleas and ticks.

But, the complaint alleges, “Seresto flea collars [a]re not safe: they have been linked to almost 1,700 pet deaths, and over 75,000 incidents involving pet harm, and nearly 1,000 incident involving human harm. Despite this, their makers continued to tout their safety and conceal their risks.”

Plaintiff Judy Knudson bought the collars for her pets at Tractor Supply and Walmart. However, the complaint claims, “[t]wo of her pets—one dog and one cat—previously died after wearing the Seresto collar. Upon learning of the serious safety risks posed by Seresto collars, she removed the product from her current pets and has stopped using them.”

What’s the problem with the collars? Bayer found that it could make the collars more toxic against fleas by combining two pesticides, imidacloprid and flumethrin. According to the complaint, “The active ingredient dosage of imidacloprid and flumethrin was advertised as a low dosage or a low concentration.”

The advertising and packaging for the product do not include any warnings that the collars may pose a risk to pets or their owners. Instead, the complaint alleges, they only warned of “slight hair loss or mild skin reactions for pets due to the mechanical irritation from wearing the collar; dermatitis, inflammation, eczema, or lesions in ‘very rare cases’; and other ‘individual sensitivities’ in pets and ‘sensitivity reactions’ in humans.”

According to the complaint, however, Seresto flea collars have been involved in neurological damage and seizures and cancer in pets. The complaint alleges, “Seresto flea collars have resulted in over 73,000 other incidents involving harm to pets. Of these, 45,552 were classified by the [Environmental Protection Agency] as being moderate, major, or fatal incidents.”

The complaint alleges that Seresto collars have caused harm to humans as well. “Between 2013 and 2018, the EPA received reports of 907 incidents, including 19 severe incidents. Of those, eight people had dermal symptoms, and seven had neurological symptoms, including numbness and headaches.”

The complaint alleges that the companies knew of these risks from EPA incident reports, online reviews, and other sources.

The counts include violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, breach of implied warranty, and unjust enrichment.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Made or Constructed with Harmful Chemicals