I want to forget that today ever happened… but it did, and before I do I want as many people as possible to hear about it. I work at an animal shelter in Philadelphia which also has a veterinary clinic in it. I am a kennel attendant at the shelter. I have only been working there a month. Today one of our volunteers who is there to fulfill community service hours for the welfare program killed her kitten Gizmo. She loved Gizmo. She was trying to care for her pet with the limited funds she has. She saw that Gizmo had fleas and thought she would go out and buy something to relieve her. The product she bought was Hartz spray. Hartz is a brand who’s name she recognized. It is a brand that claims to work and be safe. Why would she have any reason to think otherwise. That is the image that is promoted by their company. That is the brand that is sold in her local store. She saw that the kitten was acting funny after she treated it but couldn’t imagine why. By the time she got the kitten to the shelter it was already seizing. We scrubbed and washed little Gizmo as best we could but the poison, because that’s what it is POISON had already been on her too long. The vet determined that there was nothing left to do but put her to sleep as she was suffering terribly. I have never felt so helpless as i did holding that dripping wet, dying animal and looking at the look of utter confusion and devastation on the face of her owner. People who live in low income neighborhoods have as much a right to have healthy pets as anyone. If no one ever tells you that something is poisonous and it is being peddled as medicine; how are you to know???? Please spread the word.
3 Comments Received
September 23rd, 2011 @7:19 am
While I agree with most of what’s said here, I wouldn’t limit Hartz’s demographic to “poor.” I would say budget conscious, brand aware, pet-owning consumers. Hartz is sold at Walmart. I manually go through and read every story and every comment that’s ever been submitted to HartzVictims.org and while I can’t give you an exact percentage, a large majority of stories and comments mention Walmart (or the victim’s local grocery store). People have grown to rely upon and trust places like Walmart where they can shop for and buy nearly everything for their household’s needs.
Imagine if Hartz made baby formula or soap and children started dying…
September 28th, 2011 @3:26 pm
I lost my baby cat JUNIOR too due to Hartz. Im spreading the news to as many ppl as possible…. If only somebody had told me !. Ive made a Tshirt that says BOYCOTT HARTZ…. their sprays, powders and drops and collars can and will kill your pets….. also im writing letters to about 1000 ppl. news media papers, vets agencys and senators and congress. even Obama !!!!!!! if you cant do anything else, at least make a T shirt, wear to WalMart, KMart, Target. whereever you go. PPL will stop and ask you what its about. if we can spare one animal from going through what our babies did. if we can spare one child from going through what my son did….. Their Dying wasnt in vain. Hartz is getting a very bad letter from me. i will send them the same letter and my vet bill for 400.00 plus i will send this every week till the day I die. ! they wont forget the name JUNIOR !!! thanks for listening. we need to band together !!!!!!
September 28th, 2011 @7:47 pm
I’m so sorry for your friend’s loss. And I know it had to be hard for you to be there too. Please, Please report this to the EPA. They are the ones who regulate these things, so they are the ones who need to know about every adverse reaction & every death due to Hartz. There are so many that are never reported. I believe if they knew the TRUE numbers, they’d pull it from the market. Problem is, so few people know how to report it properly & who to report it to. As a Vet Tech, I’ve seen so many cats die from Hartz products, it’s heartbreaking to think they are still allowed to sell their poison. Again, I’m very sorry.
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