Shameful Hill’s Pet Food Lawsuit Settlement

A shockingly low settlement agreement has been given preliminary approval by a federal judge for the deadly Hill’s excess vitamin D lawsuit.

From the public notice:

“A federal judge has given Preliminary Approval to a class action settlement.  Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.; Hill’s Pet Nutrition Sales, Inc. (together, “Hill’s”); and Colgate-Palmolive Co. (“Colgate”) (collectively, “Defendants”) have agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle claims arising out of the sale and marketing of Hill’s Prescription Diet and Science Diet canned dog food products sold between September 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.”

This potential settlement agreement was for products that Hill’s recalled between January 31, 2019 and March 20, 2019 (two recalls) – all of the recalled products contained excess vitamin D.

The FDA issued a warning letter to the vitamin D supplier to Hill’s Pet Food, disclosing that the vitamin premix used in the pet foods contained “vitamin D levels at 2903% of the amount claimed” on the label.

Following this FDA warning letter, the FDA issued Hill’s a warning letter disclosing that Hill’s failed to follow their own safety procedures; “Your firm also failed to test, evaluate against your specification, and subsequently reject the vitamin premix containing excess vitamin D, as required by your food safety plan.”

It is unknown exactly how many pets were sickened or died due to these recalls. Eighty-six lots of pet foods were recalled.

All of these seriously significant issues were known in this lawsuit, yet the settlement was only for $12.5 million. And – that $12.5 million settlement is not just for pet owners, this settlement amount also includes attorney fees. “Defendants have agreed to create a Settlement Fund of $12,500,000.  This amount covers all purchasers who are part of the Settlement Class. This amount also covers the costs of administering the Settlement and any attorneys’ fees and Litigation Expenses awarded by the Court.”

By comparison…

In 2015 Blue Buffalo agreed to a settlement of $32 million for a lawsuit. This lawsuit was not founded on any recalled pet food, there were no pet deaths or illnesses. This $32 million settlement was for products labeled to contain chicken meal when they actually contained chicken by-product meal. This Blue Buffalo lawsuit was basically a mislabeling lawsuit.

How can Hill’s Pet Food or any attorney involved believe $12.5 million is a fair settlement? Thirty-two million for a mislabeling lawsuit six years ago and only $12.5 million involving potentially thousands of pet deaths and thousands more pets that suffered serious illness?

On the pet food settlement website – http://www.petfoodsettlement.com/ – there appears to be options for pet owners to tell the court you disagree with the settlement and/or opt-out of the lawsuit.

But…(as of the publication of this post) the official website for the Hill’s settlement (that was “authorized by the Court, supervised by counsel and controlled by the Settlement Administrator approved by the Court“) ONLY makes it easy for pet owners to accept this $12.5 million settlement and submit a claim. As you can see in the image above, ‘Submit A Claim’ is linked (indicated by the blue colored font) to another page on the website providing pet owners detailed information on how to accept this settlement. But the option to object to the settlement or opt out is NOT linked to another page on the website.

To opt out or to object, pet owners have to work to find information and work even harder to submit your objection or have the right to sue Hill’s on your own.

Way down on the frequently asked questions page it states that pet owners who “Object to the Settlement” are forced to stay in the lawsuit. “You cannot both exclude yourself from the Settlement and object at the same time. If you exclude yourself, you cannot object to any part of the Settlement. You have to remain in the Settlement Class in order to maintain your right to object to any part of the Settlement.“

Making matters worse, to object to this settlement pet owners have to send a signed letter not only to the Court but also to eight different attorneys.

In other words, not only is a pet owner forced to roll the dice and accept the settlement to voice an opinion on the settlement – such as to tell the court $12.5 million is a ridiculously low settlement considering Hill’s failed to follow their own safety procedures resulting in serious pet illness and untold deaths when Blue Buffalo settled for more than double that on a lawsuit where no pets were sickened or killed – nine separate letters must be mailed individually signed by the pet owner.

If a pet owner wants to opt out of the lawsuit, that takes significant effort too.

“If you want to be excluded from this Settlement, you must submit a Request for Exclusion even if you have already sued Defendants.

“The letter must contain the following information: 

1. the name, address, and all digits of the Social Security or Tax ID number of the Settlement Class Member requesting exclusion; 
2. the physical signature and the signature of anyone else required under law to bind the Settlement Class Member who is seeking to be excluded (not an electronic copy);
3.  the date the request was signed;
4.  the type of claim (i.e. whether it is a Dog Injury Claim or Consumer Food Purchase Claim);
5.  a statement that you are choosing to exclude yourself from the Settlement; and
6. the name of your attorney, if you have one.  

“Your signature must be made and dated on or after March 8, 2021.  Your letter must be received by June 21, 2021. Send the letter to:
Hill’s Pet Food Settlement Program Exclusions
c/o Settlement Administrator
PO Box 0097
Warminster, PA 18974-0097

“You can’t exclude yourself on the phone or by e-mail.  If you do not provide the information required to exclude yourself, you’ll be deemed to have waived your right to exclude yourself and will be a member of the Settlement Classes.”

And remember – if a pet owner does not do all of the above, they automatically lose their right to sue Hill’s Pet Food for the death of the pet or an illness of their pet linked to these excess vitamin D recalls.

Personal opinion: This settlement offer is adding insult to injury. Who thought this was fair? Not only was every pet owner that provided their pet a toxic Hill’s pet food devastated by the pet’s death or illness, they now are handed a paltry settlement that will likely be pennies after lawyers are paid (the same lawyers that arranged this settlement). This is shameful.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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