Popular flea collar Seresto has been linked to hundreds of pets dying across the country.
According to USA Today, the well-known flea collar Seresto has harmed hundreds of humans, injured tens of thousands of animals, and killed hundreds of pets. The flea collar is developed by Bayer and sold by Elanco, and it’s the top-selling flea collar on Amazon. However, New Jersey resident Rhonda Bomwell says the collar caused her 9-year-old service dog, Pierre, to have a seizure that eventually killed him.
After purchasing the collar, Pierre had a seizure a day after wearing it. Bomwell says her dog collapsed while she was making dinner. His eyes then rolled to the back of his head, and he stopped breathing. Bomwell attempted to give him CPR before calling the police. On their way to the hospital and before he could receive any medical attention, Pierre died. Bomwell says it didn’t come to her mind that the collar was the issue. “I just didn’t put it together,” she said.
USA Today reports that the U.S Environment Protection Agency has documented these details and risks of the collar but has yet to notify the public. The center has sent the documents to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
The collar works by emitting small amounts of pesticides onto the animal for months at a time, killing off fleas and ticks. So far, there have been at least 1,698 pet deaths related to the collar. Since June 2020, the agency has received more than 75,000 incident reports released to the collars, including nearly 1,000 humans being harmed by the flea collar, USA Today reports.
Karen McCormack, a retired EPA employee who worked as both a scientist and communications officer, says these incidents have gone on for years, and the EPA has yet to do anything about it. “The EPA appears to be turning a blind eye to this problem, and after seven years of an increasing number of incidents, they are telling the public that they are continuing to monitor the situation,” she said, noting that this is the largest number of incidents she’s ever seen related to a pesticide pet product. “But I think this is a significant problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.”
