Popular Dog Food Brands Recalled After Repeatedly Testing Positive for Euthanasia Drug

An independent investigation, conducted by ABC7, looking into what’s in your dog’s food was followed by recalls from a major pet food company. According to ABC7, the ABC-affiliate launched the deep dive into dog food after the death of a Washougal, Washington, dog named Talula. Nikki Mael’s four dogs all became unresponsive after eating a can of Evanger’s pet food on New Year’s Eve 2016. Distraught, the owner rushed all of her canines to the vet for treatment; all but Talula pulled through. Since Talula was in good health before the incident, Mael sent the remainder of her dogs’ food to a lab for testing. The lab uncovered that the dog food contained pentobarbital, “a lethal drug, most commonly used to euthanize dogs, cats and some horses.” The use of pentobarbital is not permitted in animal meat used for food supply, so it should not show up in any pet or human food. The FDA later cautioned pet owners against feeding their pets Evanger’s shortly after Talula’s death, but Susan Thixton, a pet food consumer advocate, told ABC7 that unusual substances can end up in your pets’ food regularly. “Consumers have no information,” said Thixton. “A consumer has to become a private detective to learn what’s really in their food.” To save pet owners the aforementioned detective work, ABC7 partnered with Ellipse Analytics, a lab specializing in food testing, to test pet food. The station tested 62 samples of wet dog food from over 24 brands for pentobarbital multiple times over several months. Only one brand of food, Gravy Train, repeatedly tested positive for trace amounts of the eutrehanasia drug. Sixty percent of the Gravy Train samples came back positive. And while the amount of pentobarbital found was not a lethal level, any trace of the drug is not permitted in pet food. Gravy Train is made by the company Big Heart Pet Foods, which is owned by Smucker’s. Big Heart Brands is also responsible for the production of Meow Mix, Milk Bone, Kibbles’n Bits, 9 Lives, Natural Balance, Pup-Peroni, Nature’s Recipe, Canine Carry Outs, Milo’s Kitchen, Alley Cat, Jerky Treats, Meaty Bone, Pounce and Snausages. The question still remains how the drug made its way into the food, since it is often only found in the systems of cats, horses and dogs put down by the drug...more