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Purina Denies Claim on Bichon Frise Deaths

ASPCA opens investigation into unexplained dog deaths

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 5, 2007

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The insurance company that represents pet food giant Nestle Purina has denied any liability in the deaths of two Bichon Frise with champion bloodlines.

Meanwhile, ConsumerAffairs.com learned the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is now reviewing the dogs’ medical records and their unexpected deaths.

The dogs suddenly died last year – within two months of each other. Their owner, Julie N. of Harlan, Kentucky, blames the deaths on Purina’s dry dog food – specifically Purina One, Purina ProPlan and Purina Dog Chow.

“I think there’s something wrong with the food,” she says. “There’s no other explanation for these dogs to suddenly die.”

They were both healthy. They were bred from champion bloodlines. And one of the dogs -- Beeble -- was just a puppy.

“She was a healthy 12-month-old Bichon Frise,” says Julie, who breeds and shows Bichon Frise. “But then she suddenly started drinking excessive amounts of water, was vomiting, and became very lethargic.”

Julie immediately took Beeble to the veterinarian.

But she died four days after he put her on antibiotics and started I.V. fluids.

“There’s no reason that puppy should have died,” Julie says. “Her parents had genetic clearance. She was a perfectly healthy dog.”

Two months later -- On October 26 -- another one of Julie’s healthy dogs unexpectedly died. In this case, it was her eight-year-old Bichon Frise, Kayla.

“Kayla was a healthy female who did pet therapy,” Julie says. “But then she started drinking enormous amounts of water. At first, I thought she might have diabetes. But the tests were negative on that.”

Autopsy Reveals Possible Link

Heartbroken and baffled by the dogs’ death -- and determined to find answers -- Julie had autopsies performed on Beeble and Kayla at the University of Tennessee’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Knoxville.

The autopsy report on Beeble revealed a possible connection between the puppy’s death and the food she ate.

Pathologists discovered problems with Beeble’s liver that were “consistent with exposure to a hepatotoxin such as aflatoxin.” Aflatoxins are poisons produced by fungus or mold. These toxins are often found in corn and other agriculture crops and commonly cause liver disease.

But how could Beeble become exposed to -- and ingest -- aflatoxins?

Simple.

“The aflatoxins could have come from the (dog) food,” Beeble’s veterinarian, Douglas Mickey, told ConsumerAffairs.com. He reviewed Beeble’s and Kayla’s autopsy reports and -- with Julie’s permission -- agreed to discuss them with us. “Aflatoxins are known to be found in moldy grains, like corn that would be in dog food.”

He added: “If you’re asking me if there’s a possible connection between the pet food and Beeble’s death, the answer is: you can’t rule that out.”

Aflatoxins in pet food have contributed to the deaths of more than 100 dogs in recent year, including:

• The deaths of 25 dogs in 1999. In that case, Doane Pet Care recalled more than one million bags of corn-based dry dog food tainted with aflatoxins. Fifty-four brands of dog food, including Ol’Roy, were part of that recall;

• The deaths of 100 dogs in 2005. In that instance, Diamond Food recalled some of its pet food because the moldy corn in the products contained aflatoxins.

Aflatoxins, however, are not linked to Menu Foods’ massive recall in March of 60 million containers of dog and cat food. That pet food recall -- the largest in U.S. history -- is blamed on melamine contamination in the imported wheat gluten and rice protein used to make the food.

Thousands of dogs and cats nationwide suffered kidney problems or died after eating the melamine-tainted food.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) traced the source of the melamine contamination to two now-defunct companies in China.

Kayla’s Death Remains a Mystery

Aflatoxins also didn’t play a role in Kayla’s death, Dr. Mickey told ConsumerAffairs.com

“That dog didn’t die from anything in her food,” he said. What caused her death remains a medical mystery.

Kayla’s autopsy report revealed she had “multiple organ mineralization,” which Dr. Mickey said was likely caused by an adrenal problem.

“But (the pathologists) couldn’t pinpoint on the autopsy what caused the mineralization of all those organs,” he said. “It would be consistent with adrenal or kidney problems, but her adrenal glands and kidneys were fine.

“Kayla’s death has puzzled everyone who has looked at it.” Everyone, that is, except Julie.

Despite the autopsy report, she’s convinced Purina’s dog food also contributed to Kayla’s death.

Purina Denies Claim

Purina’s insurance company, however, disagrees.

In a letter Julie received from Sedgwick Claims Management Services, a claim examiner states: “After careful review of the records from the University of Tennessee Veterinary Teaching Hospital, I must respectfully deny liability on behalf of Nestle’ Purina PetCare Company for this claim . . . neither Beedle’s (sic) nor Kayla’s medical problems would result from their diets.”

The insurance company, which misspelled Beeble’s name, concluded the puppy died from “severe hemorrhagic bronchopneumonia.” It also stated Kayla’s death “appeared to be steroid induced and most likely the result of Cushing’s syndrome.”

But Julie says the company reached that conclusion -- and sent its letter in mid-August -- without reading the entire autopsy reports.

“I immediately called the insurance company after I received the letter and asked them how they could disregard the pathologist’s finding that the problems with Beeble’s liver were consistent with exposure to aflatoxins,” Julie says. “And the claims adjuster told me she didn’t see that in the report…she admitted that she didn’t have a copy of the last page of the autopsy report.”

Julie re-sent that report.

“But a claim examiner called me later and said the company had reached the same conclusion…it wasn’t Purina’s fault. I asked them again about the aflatoxins and they just said Beeble died from pneumonia. They also said Kayla died from steroid induced Cushing’s syndrome, but she was never on steroids.”

No Comment

A spokesman for Purina declined to comment on the insurance company’s finding.

In a previous interview, spokesman Keith Schopp defended Purina’s handling of Julie’s concerns and said there were no aflatoxins in the company’s products in the Untied States.

ASPCA Reviewing Records

Meanwhile, ConsumerAffairs.com confirmed today that Julie’s case has captured the attention of the ASPCA.

We learned an ASPCA veterinarian is now -- at Julie’s request -- reviewing the medical records and autopsy reports on Beeble and Kayla. A spokeswoman said it’s too early to comment on any findings because the organization just received the documents on Tuesday.

Fighting For Justice for Her Dogs

Julie is also considering legal action, saying she’ll do whatever it takes to get justice for her dogs and other pets that might be at risk.

“I’m not doing this to make a profit,” she says. “I never wanted to pursue legal action in the first place. All I wanted was for Purina to take my information and check its food. But now they need to acknowledge that this has happened and make sure no one else’s pets die. I don’t want any other animals to die like mine.”

She adds: “You know that old (Shakespeare) saying that ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark?’ Well, something is definitely rotten at Purina.”

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