Members of Congress are claiming one of the largest products to be remembered in U.S. history after a best-selling flea and tick collar was linked to the deaths of nearly 1,700 pets and hundreds injured in humans.
“When we put on the necklace, everything changed and it was like a switch that turned around,” Alex Jaeger said.
Alex Jaeger and his mother, Eleanor, say that two months after putting a Seresto necklace on his golden retriever Blake, he developed seizures. They say their vet administered Blake’s epilepsy medication, but the dog has never been the same.
“I don’t want anyone to ever go through that,” Eleanor Jaeger said.
Karen Pisano said one of her two 4-month-old kittens fell ill two days after wearing the necklaces in August. The legs of his orange kitten, Oscar, began to tremble.
“That’s when I became extremely alarmed,” Pisano said.
On the advice of a vet, he says he immediately removed the necklaces, but Oscar died that night.
“That poor guy, he didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong. To see him pass, he didn’t deserve that,” Pisano said.
Seresto necklaces contain two different pesticides designed to prevent fleas and ticks. Retailer Elanco says the necklaces are safe.
But government documents obtained by a nonprofit group show more than 75,000 incidents at the Environmental Protection Agency since Seresto necklaces were introduced in 2012. Incidents range from skin irritation to skin irritation. seizures and death.
“I mean, the most important thing I had left was the high amount of those numbers,” said scientist Nathan Donley.
Elanco disputes this, saying that “the rate of incident reports … in the US has been less than 0.3%” and most “relate to non-serious effects,” such as skin problems.
A company official said EPA data “cannot be used to draw conclusions about what may have caused the problems,” that “a report is not an indication of cause,” and said “no there is no link established between exposure to active ingredients in Seresto and Pet Deaths. “
But Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi wants the necklaces out of the market, at least temporarily.
“I think it’s only appropriate in this case for the manufacturer to make a voluntary withdrawal,” he said. “We see the situation, investigate and proceed from there.”
The company said it is collaborating with the subcommittee, but will not issue any withdrawals. A reminder, a spokesman told CBS News, would correspond to regulators.