You give your dog some food, treats, or medication…and then he gets sick. After contacting your vet, what’s the next step?
To prevent the spread of illness through possibly contaminated or tainted pet products, it’s a good idea in the US to report your complaint to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
As the FDA receives reports, they investigate and look for patterns–ones that can sometimes result in further investigations and eventually a recall.
Two Ways to Report Pet Food or Medication Problems
The FDA has two ways to report your pet product problems:
- You can use the Safety Reporting Portal. You can sign up for an account or make a report as a guest.
- You can call your state’s Consumer Complaint Coordinators. Not every state has a Consumer Complaint Coordinator; smaller states may share the same call number. Below you’ll find a list of phone numbers by state for contacting the FDA with your complaint.
Information to Gather Before Your Call
Regardless of which method you choose to report the problem, you need to have some information on hand when you make the report.
Regarding the product, you’ll need to know the exact name of the product. It’s best if you have the original product packaging so you can report the Lot Number, Best By date, UPC code, and weight of the product. (This is one good reason to store your dog food with part of the original product packaging, even if you choose to store the food in a different container.)
You’ll want to be as descriptive as possible regarding the problem with the product. Even if you didn’t serve the product to your pet, you can report that it had a bad odor, that the container was swollen, etc.
If you served the product to your dog, you’ll need to supply information on your pet such as:
- his age
- weight
- any pre-existing conditions he has
- how much of the product he consumed
- what signs of illness he exhibited
- when he became ill
- the results of your veterinarian’s examination. If your vet did any lab work on your dog, have those results handy, too.
Phone Numbers for Making an FDA Complaint
Here’s a list of the FDA Complaint Coordinators by state:
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