Pet Food Products Liability Settlement

If you purchased or your pet consumed pet food and/or treat product(s) recalled after March 16, 2007, please review this information carefully as it concerns a proposed settlement that may affect your rights.

There is a proposed settlement of the class action lawsuits known as In Re: Pet Food Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1850, Civil Action No. 07-2867 (NLH) (All Cases) that are pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and similar lawsuits pending in Canada.

This proposed Settlement Agreement is with various companies and persons or entities that handled, distributed, purchased for resale and/or redistribution, supplied, manufactured and/or sold or offered for sale pet food and/or pet treats that may have contained contaminated wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate and were recalled beginning in March 2007, as well as certain companies, persons or entities that supplied that wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate ("Recalled Pet Food Products"). The settlement includes the United States and Canada.

Complete lists of persons or entities involved (Defendants and Released Entities) can be found here (PDF: 69.1 KB) and a list of the Recalled Pet Food Products can be found here (PDF: 48.9 KB).

The defendants collectively have agreed to create a twenty-four million dollar (US $24,000,000.00) cash Settlement Fund from which eligible consumers and/or pet owners may receive a cash payment for up to 100% of all documented economic damages they incurred related to their purchase of or their pet's consumption of the Recalled Pet Food Products subject to certain limitations described in the FAQs. Economic damage means the expenses you incurred related to your purchase or your pet's consumption of the Recalled Pet Food Products, including but not limited to veterinary screening or treatment bills, expenses related to your pet's illness and/or death, and other expenses such as lost wages and property damage.

For each of your pets that used or consumed Recalled Pet Food Products, you may recover up to 100% of the reasonable economic damages you claim you suffered if you can supply documents showing the economic damage subject to certain limitations described in the FAQs.

In addition to compensation for expenses supported by documentation, you may also receive up to a $900 payment per pet for other reasonable economic damages for which you do not have supporting documentation. You must still complete a claim form and provide information about your economic damages to be eligible for payment of your undocumented expenses.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you purchased Recalled Pet Food Products and/or your pet consumed the Recalled Pet Food Products. A list of the Recalled Pet Food Products can be found here (PDF: 48.9 KB). If you do not wish to be bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself (opt out) by no later than August 15, 2008. Further information on how to exclude yourself, please refer to the Notice posted on this website.

This Settlement applies to both Canadian and U.S. residents. However, there will be different timelines in Canada for completion of the various steps required to make a claim or to seek to be excluded from the Settlement. The timeline and dates on this page apply to U.S. residents only. If you are a Canadian resident and you purchased, used or obtained, or your pet used or consumed Recalled Pet Food Products, please click here, or contact the Claims Administrator at 1-800-392-7785 for more information on the Canadian process.

More detailed information about the Settlement and your rights can be found in the Notice (PDF: 94.9 KB) and FAQs.

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