Federal lawsuits against PetSmart voluntarily dismissed

Two similar federal lawsuits against PetSmart were voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs who accused the company of selling hemp products for pets without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The attorney representing the plaintiffs in both lawsuits filed paperwork Friday saying the parties were dropping their claims “without prejudice,” meaning they could be filed again at another time.

Each of the lawsuits filed in Broward County, Florida, were filed on behalf of individual customers but both were seeking class-action status. The voluntary dismissal filings did not give a reason for why the lawsuits were being dropped.

One customer bought hemp soft chews and the other hemp seed oil and krill and cod liver. The attorney representing both customers says in the lawsuit that the products failed to measure up “to their expectations as created by the defendant.” The products were bought in April.

The lawsuits claimed that because the FDA hasn’t approved the products, they are considered unsafe “and cannot lawfully be sold.”