Los Angeles, CA: Dynamic Pet Productions and its parent company are facing a consumer fraud class action lawsuit filed by a dog owner who alleges her basset hound suffered fatal injuries after it swallowed a piece of a splintered dog bone chew toy made by the defendant.
In the putative class action, Khristie Reed alleges that she and thousands of other dog owners watched their pets suffer, and in some cases die, after splinters from Dynamic' "Real Ham Bone For Dogs"injured their pets, despite the company' claims that the bone is a safe chew toy for dogs.
"The Real Ham Bone For Dogs is not appropriate for dogs and is not safe for its intended purpose, despite defendants' contrary representations,"the complaint states. "Thousands of dogs have suffered a terrible array of illnesses, including stomach, intestinal and rectal bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and seizures, and have died gruesome, bloody deaths as a result of chewing [Dynamic'] Real Ham Bone For Dogs."
Since Dynamic began selling the dog bones in 2001, thousands of customers have purchased them through stores such as Wal-Mart, Sam' Club and Dollar General, according to the complaint. Frick' Meat Products, the parent company, created the products Dynamic as a way to market waste from its meat products.
The lawsuit states that in 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a statement warning dog owners that splinters from dog bones could result in injury or even death. Further to that warning, and in response to public outcry, the Missouri Better Business Bureau alerted Dynamic and Frick' to the dangers of their product. However, Frick' and Dynamic continued to market the dog bone chew toys without providing a safety warning.
Reed contends, in the complaint, that Dynamic was aware of the dangers associated with the dog bone as early as 2006, following consumer complaints to the company about pet injuries and deaths. Pet owners also began posting complaints about the bone to online forums, claiming the bone splintered easily, the lawsuit states.
"Nowhere do [the two companies] state the truth ??" that the Real Ham Bone For Dogs is a dangerous product that should not be given to dogs,"the suit states.
The complaint goes on to state that Frick and Dynamic' continued marketing of the bone is a violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act and the Business and Professions Code, as it misrepresents the product as a safe one. Reed and other owners also allege that the company committed fraud, as it had a duty to alert consumers to the dangers of the product and did not do so. Finally, Reed alleges that Dynamic and Frick' had a "secret warranty program, paying off pet owners who persistently complained about their products to "keep them quiet."
The lawsuit seeks damages, including punitive damages, attorneys' fees, an injunction preventing the companies from continuing any unlawful practices, and the awarding of the profits the two companies made from unethical practices to the plaintiffs involved.
Khristie Reed is represented by Timothy G. Blood, Leslie E. Hurst and Thomas J. O'Reardon II of Blood Hurst & O'Reardon LLP.
The case is Khristie Reed, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated v. Dynamic Pet Products and Frick' Meat Products Inc., case number 3:15-cv-00987 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
