Members of Congress are demanding one of the biggest individual product recalls in the history of the United States, after a top-selling leash against fleas and ticks has been linked to the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets and hundreds of injuries to humans.
“When we put the collar on, everything changed and it was as if a switch had just been pushed,” said Alex Jaeger.
Alex Jaeger and his mother, Eleanor, say that two months after putting a Seresto collar on his golden retriever Blake, he had seizures. They say his vet gave Blake epilepsy medication, but the dog was never the same.
“I don’t want anyone to go through this,” said Eleanor Jaeger.
Karen Pisano said one of her two 4-month-old kittens fell ill two days after putting on the leashes in August. The legs of his orange tabby cat, Oscar, began to squirm.
“That was when I was extremely alarmed,” said Pisano.
Following a veterinarian’s advice, she says she immediately removed the collars, but Oscar died that night.
“Poor thing, he didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong. Seeing him through – he didn’t deserve it,” said Pisano.
Seresto collars contain two different pesticides designed to ward off fleas and ticks. Retailer Elanco says the collars are safe.
But government documents obtained by a nonprofit group show that more than 75,000 incidents have been reported to the Environmental Protection Agency since Seresto collars were introduced in 2012. The incidents range from skin irritation to seizures and death.
“I mean, the biggest thing that caught my eye was how high those numbers are,” said scientist Nathan Donley.
Elanco disputes this, saying that “the incident notification rate … in the US has been below 0.3%” and most “relate to non-serious effects”, such as skin problems.
A company official said that the EPA data “cannot be used to draw conclusions about what may actually have caused the problems”, that “a report is not an indication of the cause” and said that there is “no connection” between exposure to active ingredients in Seresto and pet deaths. “
But Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi wants the collars off the market – at least temporarily.
“I think it is only appropriate in this case that the manufacturer makes a voluntary recall,” he said. “We look at the situation, investigate and then proceed from there.”
The company said it is cooperating with the subcommittee, but will not issue a recall. The recall, a spokesman told CBS News, would fall to regulators.