NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Yet another class action was filed this week in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, in the District of New Jersey, against a manufacturer of “Spot-On” Flea and Tick products, neurotoxin pesticides placed directly on the skin of millions of household dogs and cats across the United States.

There is a growing sense of moral outrage and alarming statistics from consumers and pet advocates alike after over 75,000 complaints about the products have been reported to the EPA and nothing has been done to change the advertising, marketing or labeling of the products to alert pet owners of the possible serious side-effects. What’s chilling is that those numbers only reflect what has been reported, the actual number of incidents may be much, much higher.

“Spot-On” products generally do not say in their advertising or marketing or even EPA mandated labeling that the products may cause death or other serious side-effects, including paralysis, seizures and ulcerated skin lesions. Consumers are largely unaware of these possibilities when applying the products to their dogs and cats.

Michael Green of Green & Associates, LLC, one of the attorneys that filed the New Jersey class actions, stated, “I’ve received a number of phone calls from pet owners in the middle of the night, where they are traumatized after their dog or cat has just died in their arms after they placed these pesticides on them. These are innocent pets who were trusting their owner to do the right thing for them. The owners are horrified to think that they gave their pet something that killed them, often in an excruciatingly painful way. Most tragic are those stories where the owner had one pet die only to put it on another pet after being assured there was no connection to the product and have that pet die also. I’ve gotten a few of those calls too. Unfortunately, the law treats our dogs and cats as just chattel, but if you ask any of these pet owners whose pet died, their dog or cat was a member of their family.”

Sold By Major Retailers and Veterinarians
The “Spot-On” tick and flea business is estimated to be an $8 billion a year industry with the products primarily sold by veterinarians and pet store retailers such as PetCo and PetSmart.

This week, PetArmor, a new “Spot-On” flea and tick product for dogs and cats, is being served with the complaint filed against it. PetArmor was launched on April 20, 2011 in a press conference with the ASPCA. The product has been featured in television ads and is sold in major retailer WalMart. It is described by the manufacturer, FidoPharm, as containing the same active ingredients as Frontline, a well-known veterinarian recommended product.

Other “Spot-On” products sued in the class actions in New Jersey, beginning in January 2010, include Frontline, manufactured by Merial Limited, and those manufactured and sold by the other major animal pharmaceutical corporations Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc., Hartz Mountain Corporation, Bayer Healthcare, LLC, Farnum Companies, Wellmark International, Inc. and Summit VetPharm, LLC.

“Spot-On” Flea and Tick products are now recommended for virtually all dogs and cats, no matter the locale or specific risk. The Spot-On industry and vets who profit in the billions of dollars have not been called to account as to whether the risk vs. benefits really necessitate that common household pets across this country, and the children and other humans in these households, need to be exposed to these pesticides and neurotoxins 24/7. Studies have shown that the pesticides are detectible on the hands after petting.

EPA Complaints
Over 75,000 complaints to the EPA have been made since 2008 regarding these products including complaints of death and other serious side-effects even without a centralized poison reporting center, something the Humane Society is now calling for. In April of 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an advisory and reported that there was a noticeable increase in the number of adverse pet reactions involving the “Spot-On” pesticides which act as neurotoxins.

Nexus Between ASPCA and “Spot-On” Industry
FidoPharm enlisted the aid of the ASPCA in launching an awareness of their “Spot-On” product PetArmor. However, the class action complaint alleges a nexus of relationships between executives of the “Spot-On” product manufacturers and the ASPCA, heretofore known to the public as a non-profit entity established to prevent cruelty to animals.

The ASPCA has selected FidoPharm as its official tick and flea sponsor in its adoption centers and clinics. FidoPharm in turn has donated product and $100,000 to the ASPCA. John Preston, the current chairman of FidoPharm’s parent, was the founding executive of Merial, the maker of Frontline.

Dr. Steven R. Hanson, the Senior Vice President and head of the ASPCA’s Poison Control Center, where adverse reports of “Spot-On” products may be made, is a former director of Wellmark. Hartz is a corporate donor to the ASPCA and named Dr. Hanson “Veterinarian of the Year.” The complaint alleges that calls into the Poison Control Center regarding Hartz “Spot-On” products are redirected to Hartz, allowing Hartz to directly manage any of these adverse events.

In addition, the ASPCA has a for-profit arm, APCC Consulting Services, that provides professional services to animal pharmaceutical corporations, including consultation on product liability. Hartz has been a client of the APCC.

Finally, the ASPCA in a press release, in response to the 2009 EPA advisory regarding “Spot-On” products, quoted Dr. Hanson as stating the products should continue to be used.

The plaintiffs of the class actions allege that the pesticides in the “Spot-On” products cause death, paralysis, seizures and skin lesions to their pets and that these adverse affects are not stated in the advertising or marketing to pet owners.

More information regarding the class action lawsuits filed against FidoPharm and others may be obtained at www.spotoncomplaints.com

Contact: Michael S. Green, Esq., Green & Associates, LLCTel: 732-390-0480, Email: green@msgreenlaw.com

The sad truth is that our pets are “property.” They’re objects with no rights, feelings or emotions. I was reminded of this this afternoon when I received an email from my child’s school. The school is adding a service dog to it’s staff and we’ve all been told that:

The service dog is not a pet when the dog is at school; the courts have ruled that an ASDA dog is a “highly trained and well socialized indispensable durable medical device for the child.”

The key word here is “device”. The courts consider animals devices. Things. Objects.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I wrong or off base?

About 8 months ago I put Hartz ultra flea and tick drops on my beautiful 1 year old cat November, thinking I was helping protect her from fleas. Worst mistake I ever made!! Instantly I knew something was very wrong, as soon as it touched her skin she started crying and itching at her neck and shoulders.  Immediately I gave her a bath and tried to wash the poison off her but nothing I did helped. November’s hair fell out and she continued to itch at the application site. I tried to contact Hartz 3 times – on the 4 time they answered only to basically call me a liar and told me to take her to a vet. I took her to Good Shepherd Animal Clinic and they did all they could to stop the allergic reaction everything from antibiotics to steroid shots but November’s condition continued to get worst. Now after 8 months of treatment a growth happened at the Application site 3 days ago she had massive surgery to remove them. We are waiting for results to see if the growth is cancer! My god I can’t believe that company!!! I was only trying to protect my best friend and I brought hell on her. After thousands of dollars in vet bills I still might lose her if its cancer there is nothing they can do to save her. Shame on Hartz and Walmart for selling that potion to unsuspecting buyers. After reading stories here I realize we are lucky to still have her. My heart is with all those who lost a family member to that evil company please pray that my November heals and regains her strength.

My name is Carl Monday.  I am the investigative reporter for the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio.  We are looking for pet owners in the Cleveland area who have witnessed their pets becoming ill, or die from the Hartz Flea Powder or other product.

If you have a story to share, and you live in the general Cleveland area, please e-mail me directly so we can include your experience in our investigation.  Thanks in advance.

Carl Monday

cmonday@woio.com

Please take a moment to visit the OFFICIAL HartzVictims.org Facebook page below. And also, please make sure to click on “Like”

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HartzVictimsorg/193218094069224.

I am currently working on building a Facebook app and deeper Facebook integration with the site. I’m doing the best I can to continue on in this long, gruesome battle and I applaud all of you who are remaining vigilant!

My best,

Josh

The deadline for comments is Friday.

The NRDC has submitted another petition to the EPA to ban toxic flea collars and the EPA wants to hear what the public has to say about it. Here’s an article from the NRDC regarding it:

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mrotkinellman/epa_needs_to_hear_from_you_get.html

Comments must be submitted to the EPA by July 15, 2011. (next week!)

It’s really important for pet owners to submit a comment. If few people take the time to respond, the EPA will continue to drag their feet on this issue.

Here’s a link for submitting comments:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0207-0018

If you folks want to be proactive and get toxic flea collars off the market, please take the time to submit your stories and comments here.

Below is an aggregate incident summary report for pet spot-on products, which includes the number and severity of incidents that were submitted to the EPA by the product manufacturers in 2010:

Click HERE to download the Incident Summary.

The Exposure Type/Severity Category Codes in the report are as follows:

HD – Minor human incident
HE – Human incident-symptoms unknown or not specified
DA – Domestic animal death
DB – Major domestic animal incident
DC – Moderate domestic animal incident
DD – Minor domestic animal incident
DE – Domestic animal incident-symptoms unknown or not specified

According to the report, there were 27,216 incidents reported in 2010, which is significantly less than the number of incidents reported in 2009 (36,472), but slightly more than the number of incidents reported in 2008 (26,461), which had prompted the EPA’s investigation of pet spot-on products.

At first glance, it may look like things are improving, but upon closer examination, you find that almost all of the reduction was due to the number of incidents reported for ONE product — Sergeant’s Gold Flea & Tick Squeeze-On for Dogs (EPA Reg. No. 002517-00080), which is also sold under the name Sentry Pro XFC (same EPA Reg. No.) and TriForce Canine Squeeze-On (EPA Reg. No. 002517-00080-083333). Those products were discontinued (but never recalled) at some point last year (they are no longer shown on Sergeant’s website), which probably explains the lower number of incidents reported by Sergeant’s in 2010.

Missing from the report is a summary of incidents for Vectra 3D (aka FirstShield Trio) and Vectra for Cats and Kittens (aka FirstShield for Cats). I just asked the EPA to provide me with a summary of incidents for those products, too.

“I gave both my cats Hartz Flea Control stuff before bedtime (which I purchased at Walmart). I noticed something was up at about 4:00 am when one of my cats Tigger, wasn’t sleeping in the bed with me. After looking around for him I finally found him under the bed which I though was very strange. After much coaxing, I finally got him out from under the bed to sleep next to me… I noticed during the night that he kept flinching (like pets often do when they have nightmares). It became clear that something was really wrong when he wouldn’t eat his breakfast in the morning (he LOVES food)… I rushed him to the vet immediately after I noticed he was walking funny and twitching.

“The vet said that most of the poison had been absorbed and may have compromised his Kidneys; he also mentioned this wasn’t his first experience with this product poisoning pets. He advised me to go home and check on my other cat Tinkerbell, who seemed fine when I left. Sure enough Tinkerbell was twitching so I rushed her in as well. He washed the poison of their backs and both cats had to spend the night on IV. They are home now and on antibiotics but still seem very ill with high fevers.

“This whole experience has been extremely stressful and emotional. I am very lucky that both my cats are alive but I am worried about the effect this might have on them long term. On top of the huge vet bill I have missed a ton of work and had many sleepless nights because of Hartz. I want Justice.

“Do you know Hartz will actually give you a claim number and has a whole routine set up for this madness? How sad. If anyone would like to start a civil suit against Hartz or has any suggestions for me please let me know! The vet even offered to testify against them…”

I had a stray cat around and since I did not know if anyone was treating him for fleas, I put the pink Hartz flea collar on him. I am sending a picture of what it did to his neck. All the hair fell out and it left sores on his neck. After reading some of these terrible things, I am hoping he will be OK. I do not think I could get him to the vet since he is still a little wild, but the vet may come to me. Everyone needs to boycott this product!
Thank you for making us aware of this!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do not use this product. I have listed all the information I can find below. Our vet gave our kitten one treatment and she it is now dead. The Kitten was 12 weeks old and weighed approximately 2.5 lbs. The kitten was administered the treatment during a routine checkup. She was given a clean bill of health by the vet but he also recommended we start her on a flea treatment. That is point where the worst 24 hours of my life began. Within 12 hours the kitten became lethargic and non responsive. It exhibited heavy breathing and would not eat nor drink any food or liquids. We rushed her to the vet (the one that administered the treatment) and he refused to believe the medication was the cause. The vet had no willingness to help the kitten unless we paid him $500 so he could monitor her overnight. Unfortunately that money we did not have at the time. Within 24 hours the kitten was dead. During her last few minutes alive, she was writhing with pain, rolling on her back, and crying a loud sound. Her stomach (near her liver) became swollen and hard, her tongue dry and white, and her pupils fully dilated as well. I’m no rocket scientist, but if a perfectly health cat dies within 24 hours of being administered flea medication for the first time, there is no doubt what the cause is.

FirstShield Flea Medication manufactured by Summit VetPharm. VetPharm list the product in their Vectra line . This product is primarily sold and distributed at Petsmart via the Banfield pet Hospitals found onsite. Drug Facts: http://www.drugs.com/vet/vectra-for-cats-kittens.html .

The main ingredients are as follows:

Dinotefuran 22% – http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/dunotefuran.pdf & http://www.cdms.net/LDat/mp74M000.pdf

Pyriproxyfen 3% – http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/minoruse/pyriproxyfen-petition.pdf

Permethrin is a neurotoxin insecticide.Permethrins are synthetic pyrethroids that are more stable and last longer. It works by disrupting the nervous system of insects, killing by contact or ingestion. The EPA classifies it as a carcinogen ,it causes lung cancer and liver tumors in mice. Permethrin is indicated as a possible carcinogen by the EPA, causing liver enlargement and cancers in lab. mammals. It is embryotoxic in rabbits, and causes liver damage in mice.

“Pyrethroid toxicity targets nerve and muscle cells in pets, according to a study published in The Veterinary Journal in June 2008. The study found that dermal exposure by application to the skin or coat is the most common route of toxic exposure, potentially causing hyperexcitability, tremors, profuse salivation, and seizures. The seizures can result in brain damage or, less frequently, death.
The EPA approved the company’s pyrethroid spot on treatments just as it has approved all spot on treatments, but the agency has a history of approving pet products in the past only to pull them from the market later

Carcinogen: liver and lung tumors
Organ damage: kidney enlargement, changes in the lung
Neurotoxin: tremors, incoordination, elevated body temp. increased agressive behavior, learning disruption
Reproductive: fertility affected
Autoimmune: bone marow changes in lab. animals

But they are also linked to thousands of reported pet poisonings, and they have stirred the ire of pet owners, the concern of veterinarians, and the attention of regulatory agencies.
At least 1,600 pet deaths related to spot on treatments with pyrethroids were reported to the EPA over the last five years, according to an analysis of EPA pesticide incident exposure data by the Center for Public Integrity. That is about double the number of reported fatalities tied to similar treatments without pyrethroids, such as Frontline and Advantage — although these products also have critics.
Pyrethroid spot ons also account for more than half of “major” pesticide pet reactions reported to EPA over the last five years — that is, those incidents involving serious medical reactions such as brain damage, heart attacks, and violent seizures. In contrast, non-pyrethroid spot on treatments accounted for only about 6 percent of all major incidents.

Pyriproxyfen An active: sterilizer
Reproductive:reduced weight gain, toxicity to pups

Manufacture and Distributor Info:

http://www.banfield.net/r/safely-protect-your-pets-from-fleas-and-ticks-

http://www.summitvetpharm.com/Pet-Owners/Products/Cats-Kittens/

This product needs to be pulled of the market. If you are a pet owner or know someone who is, please pass along the word.