More to the point, PetArmor and PetArmor Plus, along with their parent companies FidoPharm and Velcera, are being sued by customers whose pets died as a direct result of using their product. What does FidoPharm CEO Alex Kaufman have to say about the lawsuit? In a press release, he writes, “Since its launch in April of 2011, we have sold millions of doses of PetArmor and have a very low incidence of adverse events – far below 1 percent of doses sold.”

Far below 1% of doses sold? That’s your defense? Your defense is that less than one out of every hundred doses applied caused an adverse — and potentially even fatal — reaction?

I’m not a gambling man, but I don’t like those odds at all. I would never apply a product to my pet knowing that it had a roughly 1 in 100 chance of harming him. Would you?

Tell PetArmor what you think of their dangerous product. Send a polite but firm email to comments@PetArmor.com, or give them a call at 212-445-823 or 888-908-TICK.

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.

More bad press for the companies peddling pet poison!

Over the years, ConsumerAffairs.com, which specializes in collecting and investigating consumer complaints, has amassed enough complaints about Hartz, Sergeant’s, and Sentry flea and tick products to fill the Grand Canyon. And recently,  they put together a thoroughly researched and well written article that you should read, re-read, send to your friends, your vet, your pet groomer, your dog walker, your pet sitter, your Aunt Mary, and everyone else you know.

The piece describes the atrocities committed by Hartz et al, who make and sell products that they know are unsafe. It also discusses the failure of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove these products from shelves, despite receiving thousands upon thousands of reports of adverse reaction and death in animals treated with the products.

GreenPaws.org

The good people at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have launched GreenPaws.org, a major campaign against those who wish to poison our pets for profit. Green Paws represents the culmination of rigorous, comprehensive research conducted by the NRDC’s dedicated scientists and advocates. The site has many useful resources, including easy-to-read reports and fact sheets, and a product guide that details toxicity findings on numerous brand-name flea and tick products. They also offer simple steps for controlling fleas without hazardous chemicals.

While you’re there, request an action kit to help share this life-saving information with your groomer, kennel, or other pet service provider. Also, tell the EPA to do its job by banning the use of these deadly chemicals in pet products!

Click on image to watch video.

“The products we investigated are flea and tick shampoos and drops sold by major companies like Sergeant’s, Bio Spot, and Hartz,” the article reads. ”They all contain the same type of pesticide, called pyrethrins or the synthetic versions known as pyrethroids. These are the same pesticides in household products like ‘Raid,’ used to kill bugs around your home.”

NBC4 and other outstanding news stations are a tremendous force in our campaign against Hartz et al. They spread the word far and wide about these depraved corporations, undermining their carefully constructed façades of legitimacy, warning unsuspecting pet owners, affecting sales, and slowly but surely chipping away at the market viability of their products.

But ultimately, only the EPA has the legal authority to remove these deadly flea and tick “treatments” from the market, so we are asking you to use the information on our sidebar to contact the EPA today and demand that they address this longstanding issue.

Be sure to forward the NBC4 article and video to everyone you know who loves animals, and always remember — kill fleas, not pets.

Most civilized people, they love pets quite a lot.
But the Hartz, who lived in New Jersey, did NOT!
Hartz hated pets! No matter what season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
It could be his sweatpants were cinched up too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

Whatever the reason, his heart or his sweats,
Hartz stood there angrily hating your pets,
Staring down from his office with a sour, Hartzy frown,
At the warm lighted windows below in their town.
For he knew that people were feeding their cats
Or tucking their dogs into warm, cozy mats.

“They take them on walks!” he snarled with a sneer,
“They buy them chew toys! How perfectly queer!”
Then he growled, and he said without any misgiving,
“I MUST find some way to stop all pets from living!”

Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
THE HARTZ GOT A MURDEROUS, AWFUL IDEA!

“All I need is some poison.” The Hartz looked around.
But, since poison is scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Hartz? No! The Hartz simply said, 
“If I can’t find some poison, I’ll make some instead!”

“I’ll sell this to people!” The Hartz laughed at his plot
As he whipped up a lethal brew in a pot.
And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Hartzy trick!”
“This will kill cats and dogs, but not harm fleas or ticks!”

Unlike the Grinch, who realizes the error of his ways and whose heart grows three sizes, the Hartz remains an evil, unrepentant, animal-killing monster. Hartz will continue to sell its toxic flea and tick products as long as there are people who haven’t heard the awful truth. Please tell everyone you know — and even people you don’t know – to steer clear of all Hartz products. Let’s make 2009 less profitable for Hartz — and safer for cats and dogs everywhere.

Give your dog or cat the gift of life this holiday season by not inadvertently poisoning them to death with Hartz et al’s lethal flea and tick products. Every day, cats and dogs become violently ill and die when their loving owners attempt to treat their fleas using Hartz’s toxic brew. Hartz and similar brands make billions of dollars each year selling products that they and the EPA know have killed thousands and thousands of animals. In fact, the EPA has received 33,000 complaints about Hartz alone since the year 2000.

The best gift you can give to your friends, family members, and coworkers this season is the gift of information. Print out these business card-sized flyers and put one in each of your holiday cards. When you’re paying your bills, slip one into each envelope. Hand them out at the dog park. Pin them to bulletin boards. And if you’re feeling particularly frisky, slip one into each package of Hartz flea and tick products at your local big-box stores (including Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, PetSmart, and Petco).

With your help, fewer dogs and cats will needlessly die so that some rich bastards can summer in the Hamptons.

But this isn’t really news. It’s just another day at the Hartz Mountain Corporation.