Extremely disappointed and heartbroken with our experience with Waggies dog food.

We recently purchased a few bags of Waggies dog food from Checkers because it was on special. We have three dogs, and all three immediately refused to eat the food. We tried everything we could think of to encourage them to eat it, including mixing it with warm water and even stock powder. Despite this, they still did not want to eat it.

Our little Jack Russell eventually became extremely sick. We took him to the vet, where we were informed that he had severe inflammation of his intestines. Sadly, within a very short period of time, we lost him. He passed away, and we are absolutely heartbroken.

What makes this even more concerning is that our other two, bigger dogs also started vomiting after eating the food. We immediately stopped giving them Waggies and changed their food.

We understand that we cannot automatically say that the food caused our Jack Russell's illness and death, and we are not making a medical or scientific claim without proper investigation. However, the timing of the symptoms, the fact that all three of our dogs refused the food, followed by vomiting in our other dogs and our little Jack Russell becoming critically ill, has left us extremely concerned.

We are now sending the remaining Waggies dog food for independent testing so that it can be properly investigated. We want to establish whether there was anything abnormal or potentially harmful about the food or the particular batch we purchased. We believe this is important not only for our own peace of mind, but also for other pet owners who may be feeding the same product to their dogs.

Dogs cannot tell us when something is wrong. As their owners, we have to speak on their behalf. When three dogs have such a strong reaction to a particular food, we believe it deserves to be taken seriously and properly investigated.

We have lost a much-loved member of our family. He was not "just a dog" — he was our companion, our family and a huge part of our lives. The heartbreak of losing him so suddenly is indescribable.

We are asking Waggies to please take this complaint seriously and cooperate fully with the investigation. We would like the relevant batch/batches to be investigated, including the manufacturing and quality-control records, and we would appreciate a proper response regarding whether there have been any other complaints relating to the same product or batch.

We purchased this food because we trusted that it was safe for our dogs. We never imagined that buying a bag of dog food could end with us having to say goodbye to one of our beloved pets.