Greenies dog treat lawsuit settled

The makers of Greenies, one of the nation's best-selling dog treats, have settled a class-action lawsuit claiming the teeth-cleaning product injured or killed close to a dozen dogs.

U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner on Monday agreed with a joint request to dismiss the case.

Alan Sash, who represented 10 dog owners against Kansas City-based manufacturer S&M NuTec, said the case was settled but the terms were confidential.

In their lawsuit, Sash's clients claimed S&M NuTec, the company that invented the treats, knew of the dangers Greenies posed for dogs but refused to adequately warn consumers or pull the treats from the shelves.

The company repeatedly said Greenies were safe when used as directed, which included buying dogs the correct size of treat and making sure the animal adequately chewed it and didn't gulp it down.

Still, the company changed the packaging of Greenies to make its warnings more visible and came out with a new formula late last year that it said was more digestible and designed to break down into smaller pieces during chewing.