SAN FRANCISCO — A dog owner has filed a lawsuit against a pet food company alleging that thousands of dogs have been sickened or died from eating a brand of dry dog food.

Pet owner Frank Lucido filed the suit on Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California against Nestle Purina PetCare Company, saying he fed his three dogs Beneful “kibble” style dog food, and within a short period of time, two were sick and one was dead.

The suit alleges the food contains propylene glycol, which it says is an animal toxin used in automobile antifreeze, and mycotoxins, a group of toxins produced by fungus that occurs in grains.

Purina says Beneful is perfectly safe. The Food and Drug Administration has not issued any warnings about the product.

But Lucido alleges that in the past four years, there have been more than 3,000 complaints online about dogs becoming ill or dying after eating Beneful, with the complaints showing “consistent symptoms,” including stomach and related internal bleeding, liver malfunction or failure, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, seizures and kidney failure.

In a statement, Purina said “there are no quality issues with Beneful.”.

“Like other pet foods, Beneful is occasionally the subject of social media-driven misinformation,” the company said.

The FDA has approved the use of propylene glycol as an additive in human food and animal feed, and Purina screens its grain to prevent mycotoxins from getting into its products, company spokesman Keith Schopp said.

The results of toxicology testing on Lucido’s deceased dog are pending, according to the suit.