BOSTON -- The state's top consumer advocate wants pet stores to be aware of growing concerns about certain flea and tick treatments first raised in a Team 5 Investigates report.

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing more than 70 products containing pesticides after "recent increases in the number of reported incidents...in some cases...the death of pets."

One dog owner told Team 5 Investigates that his 8-year-old dog, Ben, had a near-death experience minutes after an application of SentryPro flea and tick repellant.

"He started to twitch," said Michael Scott, Ben's owner. "Then he was like biting himself. As soon as he laid down, it was like someone prodding him with electricity. I felt scared. What did I do to my dog?"

Team 5 Investigates first reported the warnings about SentryPro and dozens of similar spot-on flea and tick products last May. Yet despite the EPA advisory, Team 5 Investigates found products at all major pet stores with no mention of the EPA's safety concerns.

In response, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation sent letters to hundreds of stores around the state, suggesting they post alerts warning consumers about the EPA advisory.

The letter states the products in question are "potentially hazardous" and can cause "seizures, and in some cases, death." It also urges stores to help by "training staff" and "informing consumers."

"Many people are probably not aware of the EPA advisory," said Barbara Anthony, director of the Office of Consumer Affairs. "And so what we're trying to do is raise the level of awareness."

Her office contacted the EPA to confirm the details of its investigation.

"In 2008, they had 50 percent more complaints about these products than they did in 2007, so that does seem significant," Anthony said.

The letter is an advisory --- not a recall notice nor a call for mandatory action.

But some pet store owners have already decided not to sell flea and tick products with pesticides.

"If it is something I wouldn't give to my own dog, then I wouldn't sell it at my store," said Shelby Klironomos, owner of Doggone It in Needham.