Are medications from online pet pharmacies safe to use? Some may be while others may not be safe to administer to your beloved companions. The problem is that there really isn’t anyway for the layperson to determine which fall into which category. Although many online companies selling pet products may be legit and may really love pets and have their best interests in mind, what about all the people that handle those products before they reach us, the packagers, the warehouse workers, the order pullers, the shippers, etc. Do all of them have the best interests of our companions in mind or are there some who hate animals and may wish to cause them harm.
We all remember the Tylenol murders that rocked the world in 1982. Starting in the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 29, 1982, with the death of 12-year old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove, the world was shocked as six other deaths quickly followed, all in the Chicago area.
The Tylenol capsules had been laced with Potassium Cyanide. Potassium Cyanide inhibits cellular respiration, causing convulsions. Death usually occurs by cardiac arrest within two hours of ingestion if not treated by a physician. Potassium Cyanide was a crafty approach to making the tampered capsules almost undetectable because Potassium Cyanide has the color and texture of common household sugar. So who were the perpetrators of this dastardly act of inhumanity?
The Tylenol murders were code-named TYMURS by the FBI and made famous through urban legends. The FBI quickly vindicated the Tylenol Company of any culpability in this reprehensible, cowardly act because all the tainted Extra-strength Tylenol Capsules came from different manufacturing plants. Since all the deaths and bottles of poisoned OTC medications was pulled from shelves limited to the Chicago area, the FBI quickly concluded that one or more saboteurs were entering these stores and surreptitiously inserting the contaminant in the bottles. Sadly, the saboteur(s) were never caught and brought to justice and a number of copycat attacks, such as the Excederin Murders of 1986, ensued. On a positive note, these murders inspired the drug manufactures to develop tamper-resistant packaging. I stress the term tamper-resistant packaging because there is nothing that is completely tamper proof. As the old saying goes, “where there is a will, there is a way,” and if someone really wants to do harm they can usually find a way.
Personally, I wouldn’t buy pet medication or food items online. My reasoning is this: if people are willing to face murder charges and life in prison or worse for poisoning medication used by other people how much more readily would those who hate the same animals that we love commit the same act when the consequence if caught are far less dire? I have always been an animal person, having grown up on a farm. There have always been dogs and/or cats in my home and they have always been like members of the family. I have seven cats now and I would no more risk giving those contaminated medications and/or food then I would my three children or my eight grandchildren.
As for the less then legit online pet pharmacies, the products that they sell contain no medication what so ever. Although those pills don’t contain any noxious substance like Potassium Cyanide, they still can kill our beloved companions because they don’t contain the medication we need to administer to them to treat some serious disorder. I would trust my companions’ health to no one but my vet and I would not buy their medications, prescription or OTC, from anyone but my vet.
