Is Bravecto safe to use against ticks and fleas?

There is probably no "animal medicine" that is more controversial than the toxic tick and flea remedy Bravecto. The product contains the active toxin 'fluralaner', and may only be sold in the EU via veterinary practices. The product has one of the highest numbers of reports of serious side effects and deceased animals. And that says enough. The consumer program RADAR dedicated a broadcast to the product in 2017. Dog owners told their personal stories of their dog that became seriously ill or even died after being administered Bravecto.

International petition

 It is therefore all the more remarkable that many veterinarians continue to stubbornly deny that Bravecto is really bad, while the sad stories of dog and cat owners continue to come worldwide. The international petition against Bravecto has now been signed more than 134,000 times. In 2017, the petition in the Netherlands, with already 40,000 signatures, was presented to Minister Carola Schouten (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) and to the House of Representatives. The "Animals Party" then asked parliamentary questions about Bravecto. On Animal Day, October 4, 2019, the same petition with by then more than 100,000 signatures was presented to the European Medicines Agency in Amsterdam.

Butcher approves his own meat

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is responsible for the assessment and approval of veterinary medicines within the EU. This also applies to Bravecto. The assessment is based on "research" provided by the pharmaceutical company. In fact, it is the butcher who approves his own meat. Animal testing is done on wistar rats, dogs and cats, puppies and kittens, which are also killed after the tests. This is no longer acceptable in this day and age to treat animals in this way! Certainly with animal medication, there is little or no control over the independence of these studies provided by the pharmaceutical company. The number of animals that are tested is also incredibly low. Ultimately, our furry friends are the real guinea pigs.

Discouragement policy

The EMA registers all reports of adverse reactions and deceased animals. These figures have only been publicly available to pet owners since 2020. But even then, you have to delve deeply into the documents to find the figures. It looks suspiciously like a discouragement policy. But we have looked up the shocking figures for you. The question arises whether veterinarians are aware of these figures anyway. Despite the high numbers, the EMA continues to describe the drug as "safe".

Veterinarians affiliated with the EMA "assess" the submitted complaint reports, and determine without having really looked at the various cases themselves, whether the complaint is a real side effect. They do not speak to the owners of the animals, and many veterinarians who do report to the CBG themselves, in the vast majority, downplay the complaints of owners of dogs and cats. The entire system of registration of side effects is therefore one big farce!

Financially dependent

When you realize that the EMA depends on pharmaceutical companies for more than 85% of its funding, you can wonder whether the EMA, as an assessment body for the approval of veterinary medicines, is as independent as it should be, or whether there are larger interests playing a very unhealthy role. The fact is that the EMA completely downplays the enormous number of reports of adverse reactions and deaths. With sad consequences for the health and welfare of many thousands of pets worldwide.

Veterinarians

After all the commotion, a number of veterinarians have stopped selling Bravecto. But there are also veterinarians who had very bad experiences with the tick and flea remedy in their own practice, and for that reason have stopped selling it. Unfortunately, there are also many veterinarians who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that the many side effects reported to the EMA are caused by this remedy.

Defenseless victims

 Pet owners are often desperate, because their sick dog or cat is not taken seriously by the vet. As a result, the sick pet does not receive the right treatment against the effects of the active toxin 'fluralaner' in Bravecto. A very bad thing, which shows the enormous arrogance of a part of the profession. With our furry friends as defenseless victims of this power game, which ultimately seems to be mainly about money. Read the personal experiences of victims on the website www.ticksandfleas.org .

TV broadcasts about Bravecto:

Heart of the Netherlands (2016/2017/2019) Consumer program RADAR (2017)

 There have been several broadcasts about the controversial drug Bravecto. In 2016, after the death of "Rico" from the poison pill, a journalist team of a Dutch TV station ("Heart of The Netherlands") visited us to make recordings about our experience with Bravecto. In 2017, the consumer program RADAR devoted an extensive broadcast to the controversial poison pill. On October 4, 2019, "Heart of The Netherlands" made another broadcast , this time with a report on the presentation of the petition that had by then reached the considerable number of more than 100,000 signatures (photo below).