A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Elanco Animal Health (Elanco), the seller of Bayer’s Seresto flea and tick collars. Two pet owners claim that their dogs either died or developed problems as a result of the collars and argue that Elanco misrepresented the safety of its product. 

Days before the lawsuit was filed, a congressional subcommittee called for Elanco to voluntarily recall the collars due to reporting by the Midwest Center for Investigative Report and USA TODAY. Unfortunately, Elanco declined this request. 

These investigations revealed that the flea and tick collars, which are the top-selling collar of their kind on Amazon, have been linked to nearly 1,700 pet deaths. Moreover, since 2012, when the product first hit the market, the Environmental Protection Agency has received over 75,000 incident reports related to pet and human health issues following the use of the collar.

The Seresto collars have two active pesticide ingredients: imidacloprid and flumethrin. In a recent interview, Colleen Dekker, a spokesperson for Elanco, said that the company has looked into reports of deaths and illnesses after wearing the collar and found no evidence that either of these active ingredients is at fault. 

However, the two plaintiffs — Faye Hemsley from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and Aitana Vargas from Los Angeles, California — both blame the Seresto flea and tick collars for their pets’ ailments. Hemsley purchased the collar in January 2020 for her terrier mix, who suddenly died the following month. Vargas bought the collar for her Siberian Husky in November 2020, and two months later, a cancerous lump appeared on the dog’s neck near where the collar sits. 

Spencer Sheehan, a consumer liability attorney based in New York, believes that this lawsuit is likely the first of “dozens.”