Tell Pet Food Express to Stop Selling Bio Spot

Rule #1

Don’t assume that a product is safe just because it is on the shelves.

It is fairly well known that Hartz flea and tick products are incredibly dangerous for pets. The Environmental Protection Agency is charged with overseeing the cheapie brands, and they have been criminally lax in their regulatory efforts.

Rule #2

Don’t assume that a product is safe just because Pet Food Express carries it.

The generally trustworthy store Pet Food Express, for example, still carries Bio Spot Spot-On Flea and Tick Control treatments.  Bio Spot for dogs contains permethrin, a potent neurotoxin for cats that is also widely reported to have caused seizures and death in dogs. Just visit BioSpotVictims.org and peruse the message boards there. And take a look at the class-action lawsuit being filed against Bio Spot by several devastated pet owners who assumed that Bio Spot was safe.

The lawsuit states that Walnut Creek-based Central Garden and Pet Company and Phoenix-based Farnam Companies, Inc., “know, and have known for many years, that these chemicals will substantially injure and/or kill very significant numbers of dogs and cats [...] In 2008 alone, there were approximately 44,000 reports of adverse events” from products containing such chemicals.

Rule #3

Be your own advocate.

Never buy a product for your pet without first doing some research on it yourself. Check with your veterinarian, too.

Rule #4

Let your outrage be known!

Don’t just privately decide to avoid products like Hartz, Bio Spot, and Sergeant’s. Tell Pet Food Express what you think! Politely inform them that Bio Spot is dangerous, and that if they knowingly carry this dangerous product, it undermines their efforts to seem genuinely interested in the welfare of people’s pets. Spread the word in other ways, too.