How to Avoid Buying Counterfeit Flea Control Products

The Environmental Protection Agency recently warned consumers about purchasing flea counterfeit flea control products. With the onset of flea and tick season, buyers need to beware of purchasing counterfeit and ineffective flea treatments.

The EPA has published a four-page pamphlet and Q&A which explains how to identify illegitimate products, and which types of products are most likely to be affected. Some of the most commonly counterfeited flea control products are the ever-popular Frontline and Advantage.

Here are some examples of what to look for when buying Frontline and Advantage.

Frontline:

• The lot number on the box matches the lot number on the individual applicators.
• An instruction booklet is included in the box, and includes first-aid information, emergency U.S. telephone numbers, directions for use, and instructions on how to store and dispose of the product.
• The applicator vial is child-resistant, and directions for opening are included.

Advantage:

• The applicator vials include an EPA Registration number.
• Applicator tubes include a reference to the labeling on the box for usage directions, and the manufacturers name (Bayer).
• Applicator tubes have an active ingredient statement that matches the ingredient statement on the box.

Counterfeit flea treatments can cause serious health problems for your pet. Please read the EPA warning carefully, and refer to it when purchasing flea treatments, especially Frontline and Advantage.

If you do find yourself in possession of counterfeit products, you can report the violation to the EPA by visiting this environmental violation page. There’s no penalty for purchasing these products, and by reporting violators, you may very well help save somebody’s pet.

2 Responses to “How to Avoid Buying Counterfeit Flea Control Products”

1. lola copple says:

   September 7, 2011 at 2:35 am

   what does a person do when they don’t have the money for these products?

   Reply
2. Sonya Centofanti says:

   September 9, 2011 at 2:34 pm

   I would gladly like to report the sales of ‘generic front-line and/or advantix! I visited a Dollar Tree Store in Biddeford Maine also of which is my hometown. And there was 3 applicators in packages, no instruction flyer within package due to the simple fact that it didn’t come in a box?! Just a strip of 3 applicators in a bubble type strip.. It read “Compare to Front-line” so I’m in a store of which everything costs just $1.00 + tax Can’t Forget that tax or heaven forbid! Anywho, I applied on my Maine Coon Cat 3&1/2 yrs old I got her a year ago from a women who I met @ a gas station here in town & I noticed she had a big pet carrier in back seat, so we were side by side pumping gas & I just came out & asked her if her pet was ‘ok’ as it was 9pm & I know she didn’t have a vet appt! I was curious as to why the cat was actually making a baby-like cry, not a simple MeOw 8ut a howl like one would hear in middle of night when 2 cats are ‘doing it’ So she said ”I think she knows where she’s going” I said ”where IS she going ” & she replied ” to be euthanized cuz I can’t watch her get abused any longer from my new boyfriend” I asked ”Is she ill” ”no just sad&scared” I said ”Can I have her?” that was that I took her & the carrier she was in big enough to put
   A medium-large size dog inside! I got her # incase I had any more ?s to ask, like exactly How was she being abused in terms of physical abuse, well her reply sickened me! Her new 8/F would put her out in the garbage inside a big Hefty type on trash night with a twist tie tightened just so, that she would suffocate & die or get tossed into the garbage truck alive & get flattened by the trucks trash compactor As she was telling me this, I realized that the eve I took her was Trash Night for the area of which we both reside & she explained that she had a last minute bag to bring to the long end of her driveway as her home is 450 yards from the street….no neighbors for miles & therefore nobody would hear her cries….Its a heart wrenching thing to listen to any pet in distress but her
   B/F put the bag she was in inside a large aluminum barrel and put a bungy (sic?) w/Hook-ups on each side of the cover & attach the hooks to the barrel handles making it impossible for her to get free even if she clawed her way out of the Hefty Bag she wasn’t gettin out&
   The trash men come pick up & toss rgt in2 the back of truck so fast as they always work fast However,just by calling her & asking her the who,what where,when why & how’s of the abuser doing the abusing! Well I got a tearfull earfull & she just broke down & asked if she could visit ‘MaineGo’ sounds like ‘Mango’ +I asked her w/her name was figuring she had since a kitty newly born just old enough to leave her sibling clan& mama cat & she replied I never named her I just call her
   Anything that comes to mind…but I mostly call her ‘FleaBag’ I got highly upset&called police because she told me there were more cats in home & that she wouldn’t leave her in-human
   b/f over a cat!?!?! But the ngt I saw them @gas station That was the last straw she said because as I was saying she walked to the road w/last bag of trash when she heard her cries…coming from inside a covered barrel! So she called police because she actually believed there was a newborn infant ‘human’ not ‘animal’ that someone driving by dumped into her trash barrels…police came immediately (small town!)& pulled the cat out of barrel&then out of the tight air-free Hefty Bag & she was atleast an hour or so away from what wouldve been her demise! Back to fleas & the FleaBag comment when I brought her home she hid in basement for nearly 2 mos before she began to ‘trust’ but when I would go down basement 2check in w/her she would literally growl @me! & when we went to sleep,@night she’d every now&again…. come to top of basement steps & sing at the top of her lil voice & make the funniest noises, and I swear to this day My MaineGo said I la you and Hellllllllllllooooo! Hellllllllllllooooo ! So I’d get out of bed & go downstairs to the basement door, shed take off..wldnt let me touch her,she did this every night after 2wks of her being recluse And every time I’d go downstairs again & shed run away&hide again…It finally occured 2me! That this was a ‘game’ for her & a way to adapt to me + I already had 2other cats of my own when she 1st arrived & let out of that hideous cage she squatted down as she searched for a place to hide! when she settled herself
   in basement w/many places to hide up high too! Stayed down there all day&night ate drank did her dutys & after 1& a half mos. She began this randomn late-night game So I finally set my mind to go down & grab her outta 1 of many places to hide as its also my husbands wood work shop daylight basement its called…high shelves here low& far back shelves there! I was taking her upstairs growl or no growl
   Behind washer dryer in drawers etc It took me 45 mins to see her I reached back she let out a differant kind of noise…Like a ‘sigh’ & then came the growling I cldnt believe the growl on this cat… Anyway,its been since Dec.1st
   2010 after waiting for her adaptation for nearly 2mos. I was petting her for the 1st time on my lap & she was purring so happy wagging her plume-like tail & I was getting itchy welts all over me….The cat was INFESTED w/fleas to the point where she wouldve definately died from if I didn’t take charge&get her out of basement & up here in a nice big roomy house w/an upstairs spare room we dedicated to my other 2cats & then yet… Its a room full of cat walks tunnnels high ceiling cat walks you name it my husband made as he works w/alot of wood as a
   Carpenter & an at home job as a furniture maker of which the basement is his workshop I was covered w/bites from something that I didn’t have a clue of w/it was happening to me! The vet said we brought her right on time as she wouldve just layed down somewhere & passed away! Now they’re back and worse than before..Im covered from my ankles up to both my Thighs w/these irritating red circled bumps at times I scratch to the point of bleeding I got that fake stuff @DollarTree & I thought it was working & come to find out while Im thinking the cats are fine after 2 applicators a piece But I was so wrong Please investigate this store its all around country I believe & its a great bargain store However,Ya get w/ya pay for So Ill end on that note Now I have to find a site on how to illuminate them for good! Please respond if you know of the best way possible w/o having to call a professional extermination expert! I am really stressed out! Thanks for reading my story…I have to ask, do you suppose she picked them up from being in basement so long or perhaps she already had them when I took her that night ….She did say her name was mostly ‘FleaBag’ and that’s just not right @all! My 2cats before her act. A year younger than MaineGo they’re sisters & never a flea problem except for when we adopted them from a abandoned barn! Two yrs ago Thanks again…..LOL I’m sorry I took up so much of your time but IDK who else to tell…
   Yours Truly, Sonya Centofanti
   E/mail: scentofanti518@gmail.com

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   Reply