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Pet owner sues

By Mark Harrison
The Times-Journal

Published July 11, 2006

A Fort Payne woman has filed a lawsuit against a pet food company she says produced contaminated products that killed her two dogs.
Shelia Barnes filed the suit last week at the DeKalb County Circuit Clerk’s Office, against Diamond Pet Foods, Inc.
Barnes is seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages in the suit, which alleges negligence, breach of contract, suppression of the truth and breach of warranty on Diamond’s part.
According to Brent H. Jordan, a Huntsville attorney who is representing Barnes, the case alleges that Diamond – which has its corporate office in Missouri – knew in September 2005 that some of its products contained toxic and deadly levels of aflatoxin.
Aflatoxin is a fungus that can exist on spoiled corn, and corn is one of the ingredients in Diamond’s dog food products. If animals ingest the toxin, it can lead to irreversible liver damage that causes death.
According to the lawsuit, Diamond is required by the Food and Drug Administration to test for aflatoxin to ensure that its product will not kill its consumer’s pets.
The lawsuit contends that Diamond continued to manufacture and sell products known to be tainted.
“Diamond…knew in September 2005 that some of its product [was toxic]. It wasn’t until December 2005 that Diamond recalled its tainted product, apparently at the behest of the FDA,” Jordan said.
He said, according to FDA reports, Diamond did an “absolutely horrible job” of monitoring for aflatoxin levels, and failed to manufacture a safe product, “despite knowing that its manufacturing plant was receiving abnormally frequent shipments of corn tainted with aflatoxin.”
Jordan said Barnes bought the dog food that allegedly killed her pets in December 2005 in DeKalb County. He said both her pet dogs – Ringo and Maggie – “suffered greatly” before dying, despite the efforts of vets who “diligently tried to save [the dogs].”
Jordan said Barnes incurred large expenses in providing her pets medical care. He said autopsy reports from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries showed her pets died from aflatoxin poisoning. He said subsequent testing showed the food Barnes’ pets consumed – food that had been produced by Diamond – contained deadly levels of aflatoxin, almost 50 times the maximum levels allowed by the FDA.
“The facts that make up Barnes claim may have similarly affected many other dog owners in north Alabama. I suspect that several pet owners in DeKalb County have lost beloved family pets due to Diamond’s tainted product, but may not even know it,” Jordan said.
Mark Brinkmann, a manager with Diamond, limited his comments about the lawsuit. He said there are similar lawsuits pending across the country. He said it’s possible those could later be combined into a class action suit. He declined to speak specifically about individual cases.

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