A year ago, many pet owners were dealing with sick pets believed to be linked to Purina Pet Foods. Purina called the reports a “rumor“, but Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requested documents tell a different story.
The FDA recently provided us with FOIA requested pet food adverse event reports the agency received from 2/1/24 through 6/30/24. (FDA had previously provided pet food adverse event reports for only January 2024.)
The FDA puts this disclaimer on their FOIA document:
“The adverse event and product problem reports contained in this record are not
necessarily causally related to (caused by) the reported product, nor do they mean the product was defective. Consumer complaints involving animal foods are received by FDA through voluntary reporting systems. Not all reports undergo follow up actions by FDA; however, each report received is important to FDA as part of our ongoing surveillance efforts related to pet food safety. Trends in reporting can provide an early warning of emerging safety issues of concern.”
When these newly received reports were totaled with the previously received January 2024 reports…
In the first six months of 2024:
- the FDA received 1705 reports of sick pets linked to Purina pet food products, with 206 pet death reports.
- the FDA received 119 reports of sick pets linked to Mars Petcare pet food products, with 6 pet death reports.
- the FDA received 31 reports of sick pets linked to Hill’s pet food products, with 2 pet death reports.
- the FDA received 26 reports of sick pets linked to Diamond pet food products, with 1 pet death report.
Another FOIA request shared with us by Kohl Harrington (producer of the documentary Pet Fooled), provided us with the FDA received adverse event reports for the six months prior (7/1/23 – 12/31/23).
Comparing the reports of sick pets received by FDA for the last six months of 2023 to the first six months of 2024…
Click Here to view the FDA adverse event reports for 2/1/24 – 6/30/24.
Click Here to view the FDA adverse event reports for 9/1/2022 – 12/31/2023.
The FDA stated in their disclaimer: “Trends in reporting can provide an early warning of emerging safety issues of concern.” Even though the agency received a significant number of adverse event reports within the first six months of 2024 – seeming to indicate a pet food safety issue – the FDA only investigated “107 reports” finding no cause or reason for the many sick and dead pets.
Although we cannot depend on the FDA to properly investigate reports of sick pets, we encourage all pet owners to continue to report sick pets to the agency believed to be linked to a pet food or treat. At the very least – when you report a pet illness, it becomes public record that we can obtain at a later date through a Freedom of Information Act request. The FDA might not provide us with much information, but with the reports – we can draw our own conclusions.
Click Here to visit FDA’s How to Report a Pet Food Complaint webpage.
Click Here to locate your regional FDA representative (to report by phone).
Click Here to report to FDA online.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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T. O.
February 25, 2025 at 1:46 pm
More than 1,000 employees were fired from the FDA over President’s Day weekend. We’re all in trouble, not just our animals…
Rav
February 26, 2025 at 7:33 pm
I wouldn’t worry just based on that information with no context. Non-productive and corrupt people are being fired. We don’t need more people; we need honest people. We need people in the FDA who are NOT beholden to the big corporations and who will work for the People, not enrich themselves at our expense while the food supply, medicine supply, the people, and the pets suffer.
De-fanging Big Agriculture, Big Food, Big Pharma, and Big Pet Food is going to have a very good effect. I really hope they go after these big companies that are buying the veterinary practices, too. We need our independent vets!
C
February 25, 2025 at 2:20 pm
Thank you for all your guidance and information which permits us to make decisions concerning feeding direction for our little families Susan. You are doing a terrific job navigating this everchanging world for us by sharing the wilds of the pet food industry with us – both the helpful good and bad.
It is not easy a road whereas the fear people feel for the uncertainty of eats both human and pet can cause questioning your direction for things you have no responsibity for – I read comments about raw feeding for ex.and I just say let’s all keep doing the best we can with information given to us and = trusting our own intuition…gently cook raw for a stretch if that brings comfort even though it goes against so much we have believed years, or prepare raw nonpoultry a stretch, forgo proven potentially ‘lately’ toxic kibble/treat brands if possible and help eachother do our best to figure it all out with kindness. Let’s do the best we can with all this helpful info. provided us and share with others what we can do to improve upon what goes on in our homes foodwise to keep everyone well financially/food prep/shopping/purchasing. Thank you for always doing your best Susan.
T Mathews
February 25, 2025 at 2:31 pm
My cat Alfie ate Purina One dry food only for the eight years we had him in our lives. He was a dry food addict and would rather go on his hunger strikes when we tried to transition him to other foods. He died suddenly in July 2024 from oral cancer.
Kathleen Smith
February 25, 2025 at 4:34 pm
Am I missing something here? I see all the reports of sick and dying dogs that we didn’t see before, thanks to Susan’s digging. But I don’t see a cause for those sick and dying dog’s. Did I miss something?
Susan Thixton
February 25, 2025 at 6:02 pm
There was never a recall, FDA never determined a cause.
Victoria Soares
February 25, 2025 at 5:47 pm
Thank you Susan for all you do to get the word out and hold the industry accountable! You are a true hero!
I was just asking someone the other day what happened to Kohl Harrington. I know he was going to law school. Nice to see he’s still 100% committed to the cause. ❤️
T Allen
February 26, 2025 at 5:20 pm
Re: above from Victoria. That’s really good news about Kohl! The ONLY way these issues will ever be addressed is through legal action, unfortunately. The FDA, as noted above by Susan, is in trouble itself right now. We desperately need a private organization to do what the FDA is not doing. It could be funded by something similar to an insurance policy people would pay for their pets. In case of suspected food poisoning they would get free testing and help contacting companies. A tax on pet foods was my original hope as it would be pennies per purchase and effect everyone equally, but, with the Gov in shambles, it looks like privatizing is the only way to go now. The info Susan and got from the FOIA is invaluable and anyone not boycotting Purina now is contributing to the problem.
Denise Shively
February 27, 2025 at 10:32 am
Susan thank you for all you do for our beloved pets. You are amazing. But please, make your best foods list available for purchase with a regular debit card for those of us who don’t use third-party financial apps.