This sounds like one of those dreadful stories where the cable guy says the problem is with your TV, and the TV guy says the problem is with your cable.

Only here some innocent animals were made to suffer, and neither company seems willing to take responsibility.

A disgraceful response on the part of both companies.

I would have thought Purina would have asked Christina for some package numbers, so they could check for infestation on their end.

This is usually the procedure when you call a company to complain about a product.

The fact that Purina didn't even do this is inconceivable to me. And they expect pet owners to trust them with a response like that?

Ugh...

Okay. I admit this is nasty, but they have a bit of a point. I've had the same thing happen with wet cat food in pouches. The problem is the foil can be damaaged during shipment or placement on the shelves. Any puncture can allow flies to deposit their eggs. They were not in the product before it was sealed.

In this case it is probably the fault of Petsmart for selling a damged product, not Purina.

I find it hard to believe that eating maggots made the dogs sick. Dogs eat all kinds of bugs. They eat frogs. Dogs even eat cat feces.

Just have to add this and maybe save someone else the effort:

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

I completely agree that it is hard in a case like this to tell where ultimate responsibility may belong. That said, in a climate where many pet owners are still "gun shy" regarding their pet food, it would seem logical to take some steps to reassure a consumer with a legitimate issue that you care about the health of their pets. No need to admit culpability, but a little sympathy and concern goes a very long way to reassuring a consumer and keeping a customer.

Purina and Petsmart... picture yourselves being thwacked on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. 'Bad companies!'

Is Beneful canned or in pouches? If it's canned, it sounds like an issue straight from the canning plant. Even if it's not Purina's fault, they could at least by sympathetic in the way they phrase their responses. Instead, it's basically a "screw you" answer.

I wonder if Purina or Petsmart bothered to investigate any of the other bags of this food. I'm fairly certain that this is not the ONLY bag of food that is infested. Besides it being really gross, apparently it made the dogs sick. That has to count for something, right? Apparently not to these two companies! I think they should at least be concerned about this issue, even if it isn't their fault.

Poor pups... :o( I'd be pissed if I had gotten that same response. Shows how much these companies don't give a damn.

@BeeBoo: Dogs eat their own feces, for that matter.

More crappy food from China and related stories to come? More at 11...

@MyPetFly: Why don't you watch the little video? It kinda answers your question.

That picture almost made me throw up.

Even if the maggots didn't make the dogs throw up, it had to be something in the food which is causing them to be sick.

"As soon as our food leaves our factory, it is no longer our responsibility."

LOL not according to tort law!

This can't be right. I can't believe that this is the official corporate position on when they're responsibly ends. They simply can't know from a telephone call whether the infestation came from their plant or not. At the very least there's business interest in knowing the cause of the probem, even if it turns out not to be their fault. I'd call again. It sounds like the OP got an idiot on the line.

All they had to do was say "we are REALLY sorry", ask for the package numbers, and issue some coupons.

Instead, they are going to be hurt by bad PR on the interwebs.

Why would you feed your dog this crap food anyway? They make it look like a healthy dog food. However, look at the ingredients: "Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour....". Ground corn is a filler! It simply gives your dogs bigger poops. Every notice those corn kernels in your poop. Even we have trouble digesting it fully. Ingredients in your dog food should read more like this: "Chicken, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Barley, Duck Meal, Potatoes, Carrots, Chicken Fat..., Tomato Pomace (Natural Balance). You want to look for a holistic dog food or food with human grade ingredients. Or even better, raw dog food with ingredients like: "Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash....(Nature's Variety)"

As a pet owner (2 cats), I personally inspect their food prior to feeding it to them. So, why is it that they didn't see this the first time around?

How do you feed your pet food that is infested with maggots? Wouldn't you notice the maggots when you're putting the food in the dish. It's not a lot of work to notice something like that.

Sadly, Purina doesn't give 2 shits about their customers or their pets. One of my own cats got very, very sick by one of their brands of indoor cat formula, so bad that we had to bring him to the vet's for emergency care and found out his kidneys had shut down. She said the new Purina food we had switched to had caused it, and in her one office alone she had see 4-5 other cats sick this way from this one brand of food and 1 brand of similar Iams food. When confronting purina with it and filing a claim to pay the vet bills, their vets who viewed the vet report claimed it was merely a UTI that almost killed my cat and nthing more, but gave us a consolation payout of $150 as a gesture. The vet bill was ten times this amount. Purina's food is bad, they know it, and they don't give a damn about it.

I really, really try to get people to switch to something else not made by purina. they're a horrible company.

Maggots won't make a dog sick. But perhaps there is more wrong with the food than maggots.

This could have been easily handled by purina/pet smart with an apology and a free bag of food.

Eukenuba FTW!

This is definitely not a case of blame the poster, because I believe that most people simply are not aware, but no one should be feeding their pets 90% of what is sold at Pet Smart.

In college I had a holistic pet doctor come and talk to my Alt Medicine class and he explained that to help most dogs with serious, chronic illnesses, his first step was to always change their diets. We examined labels on some of the bigger brands (Iams, Science Diet, etc.) and the ingredients they have are scary. For example, Chicken vs. chicken meal. chicken can include random body parts of the chicken (beak, feathers, etc.) while chicken meal is chicken meat. Not only that, but all of that commercial food is loaded with sugars to make it taste good.

Now for a plug: I use Healthy Pet Net's (Now Trilogy) "Life's Abundance." All natural ingredients, does not contains sugars, and the primary ingredients are those necessary to sustain health. My 70 lb dog requires only 2.5 cups a day as opposed to the 3.5-4 cups a day on other brands. And she is far healthier as a result (and matter of fact, she cannot tolerate most commercial brands due to a weak stomach).

It is more expensive, but not in the grand scheme, and taking care of your pet's health in this manner will ensure that they live longer and have a great quality of life in the later years.

It's time to skip the McDonald's/fast food version of dog food.

With that being said, screw Purina. They certainly don't deserve your business, and I'd say that by switching to Life's Abundance or another brand, your dogs will thank you.

Note: I have no affiliation w/ HPN outside of just loving their food and feeding my two lovely dogs with it each day.

Purina should give the store a stern talking to, and possibly threaten to pull distribution. If they can't trust the store to keep maggots out of the food, why should they ruin their good name there? At least, that's the scenario they seem to be pushing, that the maggots entered the food after leaving the factory.

If animals should eat as close to "human grade" food as possible, I don't get why some people are against just feeding them scraps.

Spices in the food I make would cause my dog to have diahrea... that is when he was alive. The vet told me that they can't handle our food sometimes.

A PETCO warehouse in Joliet, IL was closed for a while this year because of an infestation of birds, rodents and the disgusting things that go with them. There's no telling what the PetSmart warehouse that the infested food came from looked like.

However, I just gotta know: how can you NOT see maggots hanging off of your dog's food as you're putting it in the bowl? Even my half-blind husband would be able to spot that.

That being said, after all the pet food scares we've had recently, I would think Purina would be a bit more interested in the complaint than they were.

Christina, please post follow-up!

@dralter: I use purina one and it doesn't have the ingredients you listed as bad, in fact it has all the shit that you said was good. Main ingredient is chicken (not the by product).

I really am surprised there wasn't a better response from Purina.

I've been to a pet food factory. The ingredients arrive in bulk from outside suppliers. Some inspections are done, but that's not a guarantee that something won't slip through, or that they don't have some other issue in their supply chain. They should at least want to know the production codes so they can track if there is a wider problem. An apology, a promise to investigate, and replacement food (plus a free bag or two) would seem the least they could do for the consumer.

The good news is that maggots have an undeserved reputation. They are not a problem to ingest, unless they've been feeding on something really toxic or poisonous. In this case, we know exactly what they've been eating, which is fine. They get killed by stomach acid and are just a protein source at that point. Maggots, incidentally, are the first living organism licensed by the FDA for prescription use on humans. [en.wikipedia.org]

Marion Nestle has a new book called Pet Food Politics. She addresses the lack of regulation in this industry, that pet foods are huge money makers because they use the "waste" parts of animals, i.e. what people in this country don't eat. It's pretty gross ... not unlike that photo.

@Corbin123: Products liability ftw.

Excuse-me, but how you didn't notice larvae? I mean it moves! (

I've seen larvae-infested luggage at an airport. First thing you think : ''Why is the coat is moving?'' Then you realize why, and quietly freak, and move away!.

@Yurei: I tried feeding Iams to my dog. My dog started to stink. I stopped feeding my dog Iams, and the stench disappeared. Imagine how bad is the food, when odor envelopes your dog 24/7.

Also, why is there a distinction being made between "fly larva" and "maggots"? Maggots is usually used as a general term for those wiggly, disgusting things.

This is absolutely a bummer for the OP; when you buy something that's spoiled at the grocery store, it's easy to get your money back with no questions asked. I can't say I'm entirely surprised, though. I generally like PetSmart. I have a feeling that they would have issue the money back before the dogs got sick. Now if they acknowledge any wrong doing, they're probably setting themselves up to be responsible for the full vet bills.

@robbrechter: I think you're mixing up chicken meal, chicken, and chicken-by-product meal. "Chicken meal" is considered lower quality than Chicken, and both are superior to "chicken-by-products" in any form (meal or otherwise) which can contain stomach contents, beaks, bones, etc.

@tooki:

Schmuck.

@dralter: "Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour...."?

I gotta tellya. I can't believe even the maggots would eat this.

@synergy: It depends on the scraps! Also, it can make animals picky eaters.

I honestly don't see why more people don't opt for premium pet foods. Check the lables for higher quality ingredients. You can feed animals less of the better brands, and it will often end up cheaper.

The fact remains this, Purina wasn't even interested in the possibility that this was their fault. The food could have easily been contaminated before it left the factory.

Only odd part I question, how can a person feed their dog food and not notice little worms in it?

@BeeBoo:

As for getting sick with bugs, you bet they sure can. Bugs can spread diseases just as easily as various other forms of life.

The fact that A) Purina didn't care enough to even bother checking their food for contamination and B) Petsmart didn't seem to care it could have sold contaminated food and still may be doing so, is simply sad on its own.

Sure it is possible this food could have been contaminated at their home, but the former two is more likely.

That's outrageous, though I wouldn't give my dog this garbage. Would a rat eat that?

But I have a happy customer experience story to share with you in a similar vein: Last year, we opened a bag of Swheat Scoop cat litter, dumped it into the kitty box...and there were small beetles in it. Grossed out, we called the pet shop from which we purchased it, and also sent an email to Swheat Scoop; I've never had a problem with this litter before, and always considered it a quality product. This was a disappointment (plus we were out whatever it cost at the time).

The pet shop? Nothing. "Sorry, that's life." Swheat Scoop? Within 24 hours, we had a letter of apology, an explanation (that unless stored properly by the stores, this litter does sometimes end up with beetles, so it was the store's fault), and a promise of reimbursement as well as the promise of a call to the store to inform them that they needed to store the litter properly and treat customers more kindly.

Within roughly a week, we received in the mail coupons for not one, but TWO free, full-size bags of Swheat Scoop, and 6 coupons for $1 off bags of the litter. The enclosed letter also stated they'd called the offending pet shop and reviewed them on storage and customer service (!).

Now that is customer service...for something the cat doesn't even eat.

Purina should be ashamed, particularly with all the pet-death-by-food problems in the past year. Why not at least ask for package numbers so they can identify the bad batch? Also disappointed with PetSmart...they've never given us a problem. I hope the two labs recover quickly. :( It always stinks when a pet is sick.

I'm so glad I feed my dogs raw ground beef, chicken carcasses, a vegatable blend (lettuce, carrots etc), raw eggs, liver, lamb and pork... I know what they are eating... Raw Diet all the way!

Anywhere along the way, from the manufacturer, to the warehouse, to the pet store, a very, very small rip or tear, or tiny puncture can happen by accident, and a fly can get in and lay eggs. It's unfortunate, but there is no way to tell where it happened. It even could happen when the pet owner carried the bag from the car to the garage, for example (not that it's what happened here, but just a possibility in some cases.)

Maggots only take a few days to form/hatch. Not blaming, just pointing out that this happens. Most bags are made of more than one layer of material glued together, to try and guard against tearing, but there is only so much they can do without putting all the bags in Tyvek or something - which would probably be incredibly expensive and passed on to consumers.

The tears don't happen often, and when they do they are usually noticed and taken off shelves. Sometimes, however, one will slip by.

If it was me, I'd expect the pet store to replace the food as both a courtesy and a condition of their satisfaction guarantee.

The OP should file a complaint with the FDA. It is in their jurisdiction. Believe it or not, the FDA is better at protecting the pet food supply than the human food supply. (Well, I guess we all kinda know that...)

Purina fails on two counts:

a) They failed to record a customer complaint. That's an even bigger no-no with the FDA than tainted food.

b) They failed to properly investigate and take corrective action regarding the complaint.

@mmmsoap:

You beat me to it. Maggots ARE the larvae of flies.

"Maggots is usually used as a general term for those wiggly, disgusting things."

There's nothing generic about it. "Maggot" is by definition a Diptera larva.

Did the food contain pork AND pig? Beef AND cow meat?

@snoop-blog: Another ONE owner here. For both my cats and dog. I really don't know how you would not notice this when you fed it. I do wonder how the maggots ate the food if it was dry. I have never found maggots eating something dry and hard.

@ShadowFalls: From what I have seen of flies on my farm, maggots pop up quickly, and do a good job eating the carcass. I buy my dog's food in advance, not waiting to run out before I buy. If you have two active dogs, I'm guessing you would do the same. I would say that the possibility of a small rodent getting into the bag at the home, dying, then attracting the maggots is pretty high, since you're dealing with like a 4-5 day turnaround.

Purina are jerkoffs for not trying to be helpful, but this woman is an idiot if she didn't notice her dog's food was writhing. I'm very, very rarely the type to place blame on the victim, but in this instance... she's a moron. I've fed dogs since I was a wee child and would have opened that bag, stopped, and freaked the fuck out.

While I agree that the OP got appalling treatment, I also agree with those suggesting a high-quality all natural or organic dog food.

The thing people have to keep in mind about dog food is the dog is eating it every day for their entire life. Therefore, even small improvements in the quality of the food can make a big difference in the overall health and lifespan of dog.

We buy our large bags of pet food..and repackage them in airtight plastic containers for easy access. I never really thought about it, but we'd notice if there were maggots that way.

people who own pets are maniacs so any company presented with such an issue should be very kind and earn the customer.

@JiminyChristmas:

"even small improvements in the quality of the food can make a big difference in the overall health and lifespan of dog"

I wonder how the extra money spent buying a "premium" dog food could be put to use feeding starving HUMANS.

The overall health and lifespan of a dog are just that - a dog's.

Of course it's their problem. Their reputation isn't their problem either?

Please read this: I worked in the world's biggest hog slaughtering plant. Every day, dozens of trucks filled with rotten hogs and other animals, bloated and stinking entered the plant. The rotten animals were dumped into a huge vat, cooked and made into a product that was sold to most major dog and cat food companies. I stopped feeding my Pekingese any of these products. She was two years old. My Vet was appaled, he said if I contuned to feed her table food, she would not live another two years and became very angry. Heidi Lived to be 17, and stilled loved fried chicken and asparagus. Don"t believe all this crap on tv...they just want your money ...and believe me, your dog does not like being treated like a prisoner and being fed the same stinking food every day. He appears to love it becasue it does not satisfy his appetite like real food. Don't belive for a second that dried pellets in a bag are treating your animal well. REal meat and vegetables are a proper diet and your animal will love you for it.

I love my dog like a human and if feeding her better food will help her live longer than I am happy for that, very happy. I do my best to help the world but I can't pay for all poor people to eat. That being said, that food looked like Chinese rice for some reason. LOL.

As a general rule I don't feed my dogs anything that I would not be willing to eat myself.