Pet owners say dogs got sick, died after using vaccines from local store

LANCASTER, S.C. — “It was horrible. He died in my hands, you know?” Brandi Hinson said about her seven-week-old puppy, Loki.

The puppy died after Hinson gave him a vaccine that she’s depended on for years.

A shot called Canine Spectra 5 is sold at places like Tractor Supply Company.

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It’s a five-in-one vaccine that protects against several illnesses, including parvo, which is usually fatal.

Many dog breeders who have large numbers of animals buy and give shots themselves rather than pay the cost of a visit to the vet.

Tractor Supply officials told Channel 9 that their vaccines have a 25-year track record and are the same ones offered by veterinarians.

Hinson has never had issues before.

“I’ve always trusted Tractor Supply,” she said. “For 20 years since I’ve been raising dogs, that’s where I’ve always gotten my shots from.”

However, when she vaccinated her two puppies last month both became sick within days, and a vet told her they had parvo.

The male puppy died within hours, and the female slowly recovered.

At least three other people told Channel 9 similar stories after buying and using the same vaccine from the same Tractor Supply store.

James Belk raises Kentucky Walker hounds as hunting dogs. His newest litter had nine puppies.

“I gave them (the shots) Saturday afternoon and by Sunday, five or six o’clock or so, I had a pup sick,” Belk said.

Four of the nine have since died. Belk said the only one in perfect health is a puppy that didn’t get the shot because he didn’t have enough of the vaccine.

“All of them were big, playful, fighting, running. There wasn’t a thing wrong with these pups. Then I give them the shot and the next day, started dropping like flies,” Belk said.

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The vaccines have to be kept refrigerated, but it’s not clear yet what happened, or if there was a possible manufacturing issue.

Belk and Hinson said they always give the vaccines quickly once they buy them to ensure they remain cold.

On Friday, Tractor Supply officials told Channel 9 they’d received only one complaint from the Lancaster store about this issue, left by someone who didn’t give a name. The company is contacting the customers Channel 9 spoke with. Officials are also contacting vendors of the vaccine and are trying to get details about the shots.

They’re hoping to use the lot numbers to figure out what, if any issues, could be with the product.

Channel 9 spoke with a local veterinarian in Rock Hill who said he had not heard of an issue like that recently, but he encouraged people to get their pets vaccinated at a vet’s office rather than doing it on their own.

Statement from Tractor Supply Company:

“At Tractor Supply, our customers and the well-being of their pets and animals are of the utmost importance to us. We take all concerns very seriously. Our thoughts are with the customer who lost their pets.

“Right now, there is no indication of any issues beyond these two purported incidents of which we are collecting the details.

“There are a multitude of reasons this could have happened. We are reaching out to the customers to retrieve the manufacturing information and serial numbers. Then we will be in contact with our vendors to help us trace and analyze the incidents.

“Each serial of the vaccine undergoes rigorous testing in compliance with government regulatory agencies including the USDA to demonstrate they are pure, potent and effective before they can be released for sale. With over 6 million doses administered annually and more than 25 years of being on the market, there is a significant amount of science and data supporting the efficacy of this vaccine.

“This over-the-counter product is identical – with different packaging – to the vaccinations that veterinarians receive and administer to pets.”

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