Lost Dog Because of Hartz Products

It has been about a week now since the death of our beautiful dog George. I have taken it the hardest as he was my baby. He never wanted to leave my side when he was alive and now was forced to leave my side forever. I brought home his ashes today and it makes me sick because it was about two days ago that my fiance and I watched a local news report concerning these horrible products. We had George for only eleven months. We had adopted him at the local shelter and quickly welcomed him and all his quirks into our family. We had planned of course to enjoy him much longer than eleven months! We found out that within a month he was epileptic. We began giving him Phenobarb and he began to steady out extremely well. Other than that, he was the most happy and playfull dog. We were not able to get him to the vet when the fleas this summer had already begun to spread like wildfire on him. Like many of you, we were trying to save money until we had enough to get him the proper treatment. I wish we had known this would be a fatal mistake.

About two to three days later, after applying the flea drops, george had about three seizures in one day. The next day we thought he would be alright and that maybe we would need to get his dose of meds upped again. He began having multiples that day which became horrifying as the day progressed. He finally went into a Gran Mal, raging like a rabbid dog. He didn’t even know we were there. We frantically made phone call after phone call attempting to get him in as it was the weekend. I finally got him in and kissed him on the head not knowing if there was more I should have done. The night was touch and go. He had diarrhea and vomit all mixed with blood. The vomiting subsided and the only concern was that he still had the bloody stool. I went to see him about two days later because my fiance was afraid it would be bad for me to see him in that state. He knew who I was and I loved on him and spoke to him as we all do with our babies :).

The vet said that after I left he began sitting up and trying so very hard to come around. 10:30 that evening as the vet went to check on him, she saw the cage rattling and immediately opened it and picked him up. She got about two or three feet and his little heart gave out. This is one of the most heart breaking things I have ever had to go through. I have done the blame game and thought I failed to do all I could have. The vet was at a loss as to why he was reacting the way he was. I never thought anything about what we had applied to his poor little body. I had also given him a bath a few days earlier with Sergeants. We have since brought another puppy home in honor of George. I am so touchy and overly protective now fearfull of ever going through that again! No matter what anyone says, it is just like loosing a child. They have feelings, emotions, trust and expect us to take care of them. They can’t speak and only rely on us to do what is best for them.

We have a meeting with an attorney in August. They have over 300 cases with Hartz thus far! There is no amount of money that can take away the pain and bring back our Georgie, but we will do our damndist to make sure these products are pulled from their shelves. Our only wish as well as what George would have wanted is to save other animals from going through what he went through his last days on this earth. If it only saves one, two, three lives, it is so very worth it. I will be making copies of stories and bringing them all to my attorney. If you have any and would like to join us in this fight, please feel free to email us your stories. Our email is George_Memory1@Yahoo.com. It doesn’t matter if we are in different parts of the country. Each and every one of us must be heard! Our beloved pets cannot speak, but we can speak for them.