$50M lawsuit filed against Royal Canin!

Postby cheekymunkee » March 21st, 2007, 7:42 pm

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/0 ... wsuit.html


$50M lawsuit filed against pet food company
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 | 7:22 PM ET
CBC News

Another big pet-food manufacturer is accused of selling tainted food in Canada that has allegedly killed some animals and made others sick, CBC News has learned.

A $50-million class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Toronto against Royal Canin — a multibillion-dollar French company that supplies the Canadian pet-food market.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for anyone who has purchased Royal Canin
dog or cat food since Aug. 1, 2004.

The lawsuit has yet to be certified. None of the claims have been proven in court.

News of the lawsuit follows a North America-wide recall issued Friday by Ontario-based Menu Foods, and involving 91 different kinds of dog and cat food, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration received complaints the food was causing kidney failure in animals.

Toronto lawyer Joel Rochon told CBC News on Tuesday that the class-action lawsuit is based on the case of Whitby, Ont., pet owner Janet Grixti, whose chocolate lab Mocha is alleged to have suffered permanent kidney damage after eating Royal Canin dog food.

"He is a very young dog, and now he will have this costly condition for the rest
of his life," Grixti said Tuesday in a release.
Company issued recall

The lawsuit alleges that certain types of Royal Canin cat and dog food contain excessive amounts of Vitamin D, which cause severe illness or death in pets.

"The allegation is that the problem persists even today," Rochon said.

The company recalled some of its products last summer and offered to pay a portion of Grixti's $40,000 veterinarian bill, Rochon said, but his client is not satisfied.

Rochon also said he is considering filing another lawsuit after getting calls from angry pet owners who allege their animals got sick or died after eating Menu Foods products.

"From what we can tell, there's a segment of the pet food supply here in Canada that just doesn't have adequate quality assurance associated with it and that's a big concern," he said.

Royal Canin wasn't available to comment on the lawsuit.

Menu Foods has also refused to return calls since allegations surfaced Monday that its food had killed a cat in Canada.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » March 21st, 2007, 9:08 pm

$40,000 vet bill??? :o
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Postby Marinepits » March 21st, 2007, 9:21 pm

First of many lawsuits, I'm sure.
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Postby luvmyangels » March 21st, 2007, 9:24 pm

Someone I know her dog is in liver failure but on medication now due to bad dog food. She called the pet food company told them the story, gave them her vets name etc.... They called her back and were saying that they want to settle it out of court.
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Postby cheekymunkee » March 21st, 2007, 9:28 pm

This seems to be different from the other law suit. This is illness due to too much Vitamin D, the other one was a problem with the wheat from what I gather. VERY sad & scary. Maybe the pet food industry will be forced to change the way the do things. Maybe people will wake up to the fact that there are a LOT of bad brands out there & they need to do their research or pay with their dogs lives. $10 for a 20 pound bag of dog food might not seem like such a good deal after all.
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Postby Malli » March 21st, 2007, 11:56 pm

all the menu foods stuff is the CRAP of CRAP. We've already been getting calls about it.

As for the Royal Canin issue, I've had my dog on RC Skin Support(though this is a vet. diet) for at least 6 months if not a year and hes fine, so I'm not sure how well that lawsuit will carry through.
Its a very difficult thing to prove, as there are any number of other factors(compost, various infections) that could have caused the same results in the dog, many of them, I'm sure, leave no trace of what they were save for the damage.
I find $40000 a *little* hard to believe, that kind of bill comes with something like an organ transplant, pace maker, etc.

seriously, people are so f-ed up. You choose to buy cheap food, and then get angry when it turns out to be not healthy? When are people going to learn that they get what they pay for??
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Postby a-bull » March 22nd, 2007, 11:00 am

I don't think most people expect their dog or cat to die because they bought a popular name brand dogfood from the supermarket.

Many people do the best they can with the knowledge they have. I fed my first dog Pedigree his whole life because my vet told me that's what he fed his dog. My first dog lived to be over 15 years old.

My brother feeds his dog Science Diet and is very adamant about it because that's what his vet recommends and he thinks he's doing the right thing buying his dog's food from the vet rather than the supermarket.

I just don't think it's unreasonable to not expect your animal to die just because you bought their food from the supermarket.

If the lawsuit is big enough, and it probably will be, maybe some regulations will be implemented so something like this never happens again.
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Postby cheekymunkee » March 22nd, 2007, 11:30 am

The problem is people do NOT know that the food they feed can be harmful. People who spend time on message boards or take the time to learn know but not everyone does. They think the pet food industry is the same is the human food industry & regulated much better than it is. They have no idea all the crap that goes into dog food ( and I am NOT talking about ALL brands here!). They believe their vets, the commercials on tv.
I don't think people SHOULD expect their pets to get sick from eating food that they thought was ok to feed. I do hope people will take the time from here on to learn about the pet food industry. And I hope the pet food industry steps up & takes these problems a LOT more seriously than they have been. They owe it to their customers
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Postby a-bull » March 22nd, 2007, 11:39 am

Think back to that big lettuce recall~

I buy alot of my fruits & veggies from a wholefood store, paying considerably more for my lettuce than people were paying for the Dole lettuce in the supermarket. I never thought they got what they paid for when they got sick from it just because I buy what I consider a better lettuce.

Just food for thought, lol---pun intended.

:P
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Postby Malli » March 22nd, 2007, 12:30 pm

On March 22 2007, a-bull wrote:I just don't think it's unreasonable to not expect your animal to die just because you bought their food from the supermarket.


That's not exactly what I meant. There are other less serious and more obvious health risks that come up with feeding cheaper foods. For example, the guy who did that mcdonalds only documentary (wait, I take this back, there are millions of people who eat worse then mcDicks all day every day...)

heck, I fed Oscar Iams for most of the first year of his life...

And as for making it so it never happens again, there are food recalls with people... mistakes happen :|
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Postby Malli » March 22nd, 2007, 12:38 pm

but, when you buy cheap lettuce (e.g. ice berg), don't most people KNOW it doesn't have the same nutritional value?
And as for the lettuce scare, that company (I believe its that one-earthbound farms??) sell organic and healthier types of salads, spinach, and lettuces (is that a word?).

I suppose I'm just sick of the attitude I see a lot with people that its always someone else's fault, what about fault on both sides or admitting we make stupid decisions and mistakes (and I'm talking general here with respect to the climbing number of lawsuits seen)? i.e. : " I bought this low cost food, maybe spending less means it will be poorer quality? Maybe if I'd bought better quality food and my animal had medical issues it could have handled them better? Maybe I should have brought my pet in to the vet earlier when I first noticed something wasn't right?"
This is what I'm talking about, being accountable for our own shortfalls etc. It just seems our society is more and more about pointing the finger :|
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Postby a-bull » March 22nd, 2007, 2:51 pm

On March 22 2007, Malli wrote:
On March 22 2007, a-bull wrote:I just don't think it's unreasonable to not expect your animal to die just because you bought their food from the supermarket.


That's not exactly what I meant. There are other less serious and more obvious health risks that come up with feeding cheaper foods. For example, the guy who did that mcdonalds only documentary (wait, I take this back, there are millions of people who eat worse then mcDicks all day every day...)

heck, I fed Oscar Iams for most of the first year of his life...

And as for making it so it never happens again, there are food recalls with people... mistakes happen :|


true, true . . . of course things will still happen, but hopefully not as severe and hopefully not as widespread.

A little regulation goes a long way. Certainly not a cure, but it would help.
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Postby a-bull » March 22nd, 2007, 2:53 pm

On March 22 2007, Malli wrote:but, when you buy cheap lettuce (e.g. ice berg), don't most people KNOW it doesn't have the same nutritional value?
And as for the lettuce scare, that company (I believe its that one-earthbound farms??) sell organic and healthier types of salads, spinach, and lettuces (is that a word?).

I suppose I'm just sick of the attitude I see a lot with people that its always someone else's fault, what about fault on both sides or admitting we make stupid decisions and mistakes (and I'm talking general here with respect to the climbing number of lawsuits seen)? i.e. : " I bought this low cost food, maybe spending less means it will be poorer quality? Maybe if I'd bought better quality food and my animal had medical issues it could have handled them better? Maybe I should have brought my pet in to the vet earlier when I first noticed something wasn't right?"
This is what I'm talking about, being accountable for our own shortfalls etc. It just seems our society is more and more about pointing the finger :|


absolutely . . . I agree with you on the finger pointing for sure---and it seems like people don't take any personal responsibility anymore, doesn't it? Everything is someone else's fault or someone else's responsibility. I, too, am speaking "in general"---certainly not regarding this dogfood recall which is just tragic. :(
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Postby luvmyangels » March 22nd, 2007, 5:38 pm

But many people think because it is advertised it is a good food and a reputable company. The person whom I know that is having problems with her dog due to feeding the tainted food can not be reasoned with. I tried to explain it to her that the food wasn't any good and she is brain washed by the vet that it is a good food. She also told me when they checked the dog and found the problem they also uncovered the fact that the dog had a tumor and that she now at 11 years old had to neuter the dog. When I asked her why she didn't in the 1st place she told me because they were going to breed the dog. I couldn't take the conversation anymore and had to hang up because this person should not have been breeding dogs to begin with. I have only known this person for a month and the more I get to know the more I realize I like animals better than people.
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Postby randi81 » March 22nd, 2007, 9:50 pm

On March 22 2007, 11:38 AM, Malli wrote:but, when you buy cheap lettuce (e.g. ice berg), don't most people KNOW it doesn't have the same nutritional value?


hey hey HEY NOW! I hate romaine lettuce. I hate spinach. I hate "leafy greens". I ONLY eat iceburg lettuce!!! :wink:
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Postby a-bull » March 22nd, 2007, 10:38 pm

On March 22 2007, randi81 wrote:
On March 22 2007, 11:38 AM, Malli wrote:but, when you buy cheap lettuce (e.g. ice berg), don't most people KNOW it doesn't have the same nutritional value?


hey hey HEY NOW! I hate romaine lettuce. I hate spinach. I hate "leafy greens". I ONLY eat iceburg lettuce!!! :wink:


can't lie, I like me some iceburg myself, lol, even though I know better! :P
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Postby Malli » March 23rd, 2007, 12:40 am

I just feel like mistakes happen and they are crappy and sometimes its no one's fault...
I'm sure any food company wouldn't do it on purpose, as whats the point ?
So obviously its a really crappy mistake.

we've been getting a lot of calls from people about it, one of our poor ER vet's even did a tv interview, :lol3:

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