Hartz Pet Products Horror Stories

[Ladyzekke]

This may not be new news for some, but it is for me. I had no idea that Hartz pet products (sold in MANY pet stores in my area) were so dangerous! I came across this site this morning, and wow...amazing this product is still allowed to be on shelves anywhere! Here is a link to the "stories archives" for October 2006. There are many more stories categorized under previous months as well.

http://www.hartzvictims.org/modules....onth_l=October

Even read one story regarding Hartz guinea pig food and it was infested with ticks. Ticks!

[ 10-30-2006, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: ladyzekke ]

[robertthebard]

Scary stuff, that.

[Bungleau]

Sad as those stories are, I see a lot jumped conclusions in there... something bad happened to my pet, and the only thing I can think of was using this product.

Hmmm... some googling came up with...

1. A Q&A piece on Hartz relabelling their flea & tick products to minimize harmful side effects

2. An FDA Notice about Hartz dropping production of certain flea and tick products

3. A detailed historical summary of what's happened with Hartz and these products.

What's the difference with these sources? They're more factual in my book, while the site Lady Z mentioned seems more anecdotal. And even given that the anecdotes have proven strong enough (and sadly, painful enough) to prompt change, you can effect change a whole lot more easily when it's based on fact. At least, for the long term.

In any case, note that the target products are still going to be available for dogs... I guess we're not as vocal as the cat owners

[SpiritWarrior]

Yeah Hartz is lethal. The animals die from poisoning usually, Hartz uses all kinds of pesticides. I use natural or alternative products. Sergeant is not a bad generic product for dogs and cats if you can't go alternate. Most places like Walmart stock it.

[Cloudbringer]

I haven't used Hartz products for a long time, partly because I'd heard such things about it in the past.

[SpiritWarrior]

Plus, when you've owned dogs long enough you can almost judge a product by its smell and potency. Hartz smells really strong and bears a warning to avoid contact with skin as it may cause irritation! People have been saying stuff about Hartz for years, they dubbed it "Harshtz" on many pet forums. I am using a natural product atm that I got in Walmart, made of purely natural ingredients and it works like a charm. The moment I spray it a dog you can see fleas jump away. Some of the conventional products don't do that despite the fact that you just drenched your animal with all kinds of chemicals.

[Felix The Assassin]

Wrapped inside the cuff, then bloused over the top of the boot, these products cannot be beat. They keep all pests known the world over off of the soldier. Side Note: Never, ever, as in NEVER, allow these products to come into constant contact with human skin. Great product, excellent results, no issues here.

[Ziroc]

My god. Choc is an indoor cat, and has never had fleas, but if a product like this killed my pet, lets just say that they would pay. And not in money. [img]graemlins/1pissed.gif[/img]

This worries me so much, I have added one of their banners to my front page of IW.www.ironworksforum.com
I am surprised that the Hartz building isn't dust now from all the deaths their poisons.

[ 11-12-2006, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: Ziroc ]

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Well, I could tell you a thing or 30 about the food most of you feed your pets. We have a dog and cat now and we make the food for both of them after finding out what's in it and the kind of testing they do.

Things like those big vats of grease at the back of the restaurants, even road kill, end up your pets food.

Some of the tests include letting the animal be starved nearly to death and then letting them gorge themselves and ultimatly die.

The book is called "Food Pets Die For".

Most dry foods have to be sprayed with chemicals so the animal thinks it's something good. Otherwise, they'd never go near it.

..and don't wet the dry food down! The bacteria count goes through the roof very quickly.

[SpiritWarrior]

Yeah I have that book. There's another great one too, I forget the name but it's white with pictures of dogs and cats on it (i'm hoping that's enough for you to recognise it since it's kind of famous or "infamous" for the truths it exposes).

The bottom line is dried food has a grain base and canines and felines don't have the multi-tasking stomachs of cows and horseys to digest it properly. It's not natural. Does that mean they vomit it up? No, but it isn't intended for them to eat "grass" all day since their teeth are all curved and sharp, designed for meat. Over time, animals develop all kinds of problems we now accept as the norm. This is another facet of the alternative vs. conventional medicine argument we hear about for humans; it remains a big secret because the pharmacutical companies would lose trillions (in this case vets and animal product manufacturers).

Digestive, skin and cardiovascular problems are not really normal for an otherwise healthy animal yet these are commonplace in the life on a dog or cat-owner. Hearing and sigh problems too. Never before have I seen or heard of so many dogs with heart trouble and issues than I do these days. Animals now have disorders like epilepsy for gods sake. When have you ever seen a wild animal in it's natural state with so many conditions?