Merial Teams Up with ‘The Dog Whisperer’

Posted on August 1, 2009

This past June, Merial, a leading veterinary pharmaceutical company released news of a partnership with “The Dog Whisperer’s” Cesar Millan. As most already know, Millan is a celebrity dog trainer who recommends dominance based training techniques to promote dog owners to be the “leader of the pack”.

Millan will be promoting Merial’s Frontline and Heartgard and offering a free video download on dog behavior training with a purchase of the products. Additionally, there is an opportunity to win a trip to watch a live taping of Millan’s show and to have lunch with the dog trainer.

The controversy of the relationship stems from Millan’s dominance based training techniques which counters the recommended techniques taught and promoted by board certified veterinary behaviorists. The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB) and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) have denounced Millan’s coercive techniques. The executive board of AVSAB has released a statement claiming the following: “At worst, Mr. Millan’s techniques and misinformation have contributed to increased aggression and anxiety or resulted in physical injury to the pet and/or pet owner.  As practicing veterinarians, we all unfortunately have seen many cases of the latter. Merial claims to ‘enhance the health, well-being, and performance of animals. Asking veterinarians to recommend that their clients seek behavior information from Mr. Millan speaks otherwise.”  To view an official statement of the ACVB’s position visit: http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Current_Events/acvb%20merial%20statement.pdf

AVSAB has also set up an online petition to protest the use of Millan in Merial’s advertising campaigns.