My History with TruGreen Chemlawn

We started using Chemlawn in 1999. The thought of nearly 2 acres of beautiful weed free grass was irresistible. Some neighbors used them and others didn't and the difference between yards was obvious.

I grilled Chemlawn about the safety of the chemicals they use, since at that time I had three kids with the youngest just six years old. Moose was a little puppy. Fuzzy (our cat) was eight.

One thing that Chemlawn states repeatedly in personal conversations with their sales reps and on their website that the chemicals they use are: "Practically Non-Toxic". That was reassuring! I knew TruGreen Chemlawn was a large national company, a division of Service Master. I was told all products they used were EPA approved, hence that must mean "thoroughly tested". I had faith that the US government would never allow dangerous chemicals to be sprayed in residential yards, endangering their own citizens.

My faith was severely misplaced!

Regarding Moose dying from liver and kidney failure due to pesticide exposure, there are several issues that I am furious about.

1) I did not even have an appointment with Chemlawn, they just came on their own. Even if I had called them, Chemlawn blatantly disregarded the MUST CALL BEFORE SPRAYING notification which has been on file with them since we started using them in 1999. This set the stage for #2.

2) The sprayer was stupid, careless, negligent and lacked common sense.  He claimed he had nothing to do with front office issues, such as phone call notifications and he said he had no idea what the customer talks about on the phone with the front office. That's a grave mis-communication problem between Chemlawn management and their employees. However, he did make the decision to spray, even though he said he saw all the doors and windows open and the dog standing in the yard. If he saw that situation, why didn't he call me from his truck?

3) The insult to injury is that even though I knew exactly happened to Moose, I couldn't "prove it" with toxicology reports because my Vet claimed as soon as I brought him to her after he collapsed into convulsions, (48 hours after contact) that there was no way to test Moose for pesticide toxins.  I found out after Moose died that everything my Vet told me was a lie. She also said there was no treatments and that the only thing I could do was test for dog illnesses. She was either ignorant or unwilling, as of yet, I am unsure why she told me the things she did.

Chemlawn has more than 3 million residential accounts in the US, in every city in this country. More than 30 million of us have dogs. I have a hard time believing I am the only person whose dog has been exposed to freshly sprayed pesticides.

My Vet even bothered to ask what pesticide products that Moose came in contact with. She was completely unconcerned with what I was telling her why Moose was so sick.

Well, I finally found the "antidote" for the particular poison Moose came in contact with, on the EPA website. Unfortunately, I found it three weeks AFTER he died.

Moose should have received this treatment to cleanse his liver and kidneys while the fresh toxins were coursing through his system. That didn't happen and the result was liver and kidney failure, just like the EPA document says it would.

Moose was exposed to CHLOROPHENOXY HERBICIDES which are documented to be exceedingly more deadly in dogs than in humans or rats.  Dogs have an inherent inability to process this herbicide through their system efficiently. Therefore it stays in their bodies longer and then it has the capability to do much more damage to the internal organs. A RAT can get rid of/eliminate/pee out the product in 1 HOUR. In a HUMAN, it takes 12 Hours. In DOGS, it takes 96 HOURS!

You'll hear this over and over within my site.

Moose was absolutely fine before noon, October 3rd. He was healthy, energetic, absolutely no problems whatsoever. Life was never the same again.  After that day, life was all about nursing a sick dog, giving as much as 10 pills a day and making homemade dog food to an appetite-less dog until he died.

Here's where we are now:
It seems there is NO JUSTICE in this world. The local Chemlawn manager never responded to my many phone calls in October and November and then in February when I notified that office of Moose's death.  

Chemlawn Corporate "CUSTOMER CARE"?  They never responded to my letter. Chemlawn does NOT care about YOU. They only care about your pocketbook and whether you've paid them or not.

If you're a customer of TruGreen Chemlawn, this is how YOU can expect to be treated, too.

Chemlawn needs to be held accountable for coming onto my property without an appointment, without permission to even be there and exterminating my dog!

The system needs to change where if you claim your animal is poisoned, Vets should immediately be able to do toxicology tests to substantiate those claims and most importantly --to give the proper treatment.

In closing, I think there is a time and a place for pesticide and herbicide use. However, in my research of the last few months, I believe we use TOO MUCH of these substances, and most importantly --there has not been enough real testing as to the health ramifications of these dangerous substances that are so commonly used.

--Robin Olson
March 15, 2007