Texas pet owner Wendy Black has initiated a complaint seeking class action status against Party Animal Inc. and Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company, Inc.
The suit, filed June 6 in the Superior Court for Los Angeles County’s Central District seeks damages “…on behalf of all persons who purchased Party Animal organic brand dog food … in the four years prior to the filing of this complaint.”
Evanger’s produced the dog food for Party Animal.
Black fed two varieties of Party Animal’s Cocolicious canned dog food to Bianca, a miniature Schnauzer she was fostering, according to the complaint. Bianca allegedly became severely ill after consuming the dog food, requiring veterinary visits, including administration of IV fluids.
In early March, realizing that Bianca’s ongoing illness appeared to be linked to consumption of the Party Animal food, Black communicated in writing with the retailer where she bought it. Shortly thereafter, she was contacted by a representative of Evanger’s, who instructed her to assemble the remaining cans of food in her possession for pick-up by Federal Express, promising to replace the cans with a different food at no cost.
Black returned some of the food, but retained a portion, submitting a sample to Texas A&M University for testing. The test result was positive for pentobarbital, according to the lawsuit.
Following receipt of the pentobarbital test result, Black requested tests to determine whether the Cocolicious pet food ingredient label was accurate. According to her lawsuit, lab tests revealed that the sample, which was purported to contain coconut oil, “… did not contain coconut or coconut compounds as advertised.”
Black is seeking “…appropriate compensatory damages and restitutionary disgorgement…” for herself and on behalf of others who bought Party Animal dog food, as well as punitive damages. She has requested a jury trial.
On April 24, Party Animal recalled two lots of its Cocolicious canned dog food, manufactured in 2015, because of possible contamination with the animal euthanasia drug pentobarbital. The recalled dog food can be identified by the following label information:
- Cocolicious Beef & Turkey dog food with the Lot # 0136E15204 04 and a best-by date of July 2019; and
- Cocolicious Chicken & Beef dog food with the Lot # 0134E15 237 13 and a best-by date of August 2019.
Party Animal Inc. filed suit in federal court in May against Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Co. Inc. because dog food Evanger’s produced for Party Animal was found to be contaminated with the animal euthanasia drug pentobarbital.
This article first appeared in Food Safety News and is reposted here with permission.
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