Collar Cover up?
Another nail just went in the lid of the Seresto collar’s coffin.
UPDATE: The EPA has now received 271 comments, about 9 times as many as when I wrote this post! A significant number support the collar. If you want to make your voice heard, click here now!
Yesterday, USA Today, shared that newly released government documents revealed, “Even as it assured the public of its safety, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency privately raised concerns for at least six years about the disproportionate number of incidents of harm and death linked to the popular Seresto flea and tick collar…”
Back in 2015, the EPA stated that Seresto’s incident counts were higher than those of other flea and tick products by a “wide margin. “And in 2018, the agency recognized that it would receive reports of 50-100 pet deaths related to Seresto every three months with a “trend of increasing numbers.”
Yet sales were allowed to continue. Until the reports that surfaced earlier this year, which led to a House Oversight Committee investigation and a call for Elanco to voluntarily recall the collars. Of course, that did not happen. Considering that Bayer made $300 million dollars on the collar in 2019, and then Elanco bought the collar and other Bayer animal health assets for $7.6 billion just last year, there is simply too much money at stake to do what is right for the dogs.
In one of the most striking revelations contained in the documents, EPA was in contact with Canadian officials as they considered approving Seresto for sale in Canada. They ultimately declined approval. The EPA previously stated they had no knowledge of Canada’s approval process. These newly released documents show the truth to be quite the opposite.
You may recall I first wrote about the collar in 2017. I shared data there showing over 14,000 reports on the collar (click the link to see that data). It turns out that in early 2018, three divisions of EPA were meeting to discuss the increasing number of incidents being reported. They also met with Bayer, who then owned the product. Documents related to an EPA 2019 meeting with Bayer and an adverse event management company showed that the EPA was aware of more than 1000 pet deaths, with larger numbers each year from 2016 to 2018.
Are you as enraged as I am that the EPA knew about the ever increasing problems with the collar, and failed to act? That they lied about contact with Canadian officials, and likely more? What about the rushed approval of the collars back in 2012, which only came to light with the release of recent documents? Or that officials at the National Pesticide Information Center forwarded “special interest reports” about Seresto to EPA officials, which were treated differently than other pesticide products, included numerous cases of pet deaths?
Whether or not you dog has been affected by the collar, you should be enraged with the way EPA staff handled this product. How can we have safe products for animals and humans without those in charge of monitoring that safety and taking swift action when problems become evident? Maybe your dog was fine wearing a Seresto, but what about the next dog, or the next product whose track record of adverse reactions is ignored?
Take action now. The EPA is soliciting comments on the collar here. Share your thoughts and/or experiences, and your opinion of how they have handled the review of this product over the last 6 years. Do this ASAP, as comments must be received before September 10.
For those who want other ways to battle fleas and ticks, there are many options. For the DIY’er, various repellent ecipes are available. I recommend one shared by Dr. Karen Becker. For those who prefer a commercial product, I like Wondercide or Kin and Kind products. Third, if the problem is in your yard, consider ways you can make it less hospitable to insects. Diatomaceous earth can help with sand fleas. Ticks like shaded vegetation, twelve to eighteen inches high. Prevent access to these areas, or treat them with a natural and pet safe product. Consider using thoughtfully placed tick tubes, a way to control ticks on the mice they live part of their life cycle upon. And of course, do a tick check daily, and whenever returning from areas where ticks may be common. You can find my basic tick strategy here.
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