Dangerous/deadly chew toy
ulti...@hotmail.com
Here's a heartbreaking story: A dog owner is asking the public to
demand the recall of a chew toy after it caused an injury to their dog
that required amputation of its tongue.
On Sunday, June 22, 2008 my 10-year old lab mix, Chai, sustained a
severe injury from a product that the company Four Paws Inc, produces.
The toy I'm referencing is the pimple ball with bell. (Item
#20227-001, UPC Code 0 4566320227 9)
While chewing on the toy, a vacuum was created and it effectively
sucked his tongue into the hole in the ball. From speaking with my
vet, this likely occurred because there is not a second hole in the
ball preventing the vacuum effect from happening. I became aware of
this when Chai approached a friend at my home whimpering with the ball
in his mouth. She tried unsuccessfully to remove the ball but the
tongue had swollen and could not be released.
Chai was taken to the Animal Medical Center (an emergency care
facility in New York City) and was treated by Dr. Nicole Spurlock to
have the ball removed. Because the size of the opening on the ball was
so small, all circulation to his tongue was cut off. The doctors had
to sedate him in order to remove it. Once the ball was removed, his
tongue swelled to the point that he could no longer put it in his
mouth. Chai was sent home with care instructions and to be observed
overnight for any changes.
By the following morning Chai’s tongue had swollen even more.
He was taken to his regular vet, Dr. Timnah Lee, for treatment. He
was admitted and kept sedated for a period of three days during which
time they were treating his wounds and waiting to determine how much
of his tongue could be saved. On June 26, 2008 Chai had his tongue
amputated.
He was kept in after-care for an additional three days. On Sunday
June 29th I brought Chai home from the vet with a barrage of home care
instructions, to last for an additional 7 days. His next visit was to
have his mouth re-examined and have the feeding tube in his neck
removed.
h.tees
<ulti...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dba8bce7-b126-43c5...@z11g2000prl.googlegroups.com...
http://consumerist.com/5040194/owner-calls-for-chew-toy-recall-after-dogs-injury-results-in-tongue-amputation
Here's a heartbreaking story: A dog owner is asking the public to
demand the recall of a chew toy after it caused an injury to their dog
that required amputation of its tongue.
Oh don't be SO stupid. My dog hurt himself when he grabbed a stick that was
thrown
for him. Should we demnd a policy of cutting ll trees down?
Get a life, stop trying to scrounge and wallow in your self pitying
compensation culture
lifestyle.
SPAM@verizon.net Anthony Diodati
"h.tees" <h.t...@nowhere.net.uk> wrote in message
news:g8n2qi$lsq$1...@news.albasani.net...
No they should recall it, If it can hurt the dog, it should be recalled. A
dog can't get his tongue caught in a stick.
Tony
doly...@yahoo.com
wrote:
> "h.tees" <h.t...@nowhere.net.uk> wrote in message
>
> news:g8n2qi$lsq$1...@news.albasani.net...
>
>
>
>
>
> >news:dba8bce7-b126-43c5...@z11g2000prl.googlegroups.com...
> >http://consumerist.com/5040194/owner-calls-for-chew-toy-recall-after-...
>
> > Here's a heartbreaking story: A dog owner is asking the public to
> > demand the recall of a chew toy after it caused an injury to their dog
> > that required amputation of its tongue.
>
> > Oh don't be SO stupid. My dog hurt himself when he grabbed a stick that
> > was thrown
> > for him. Should we demnd a policy of cutting ll trees down?
>
> > Get a life, stop trying to scrounge and wallow in your self pitying
> > compensation culture
> > lifestyle.
>
> No they should recall it, If it can hurt the dog, it should be recalled. A
> dog can't get his tongue caught in a stick.
> Tony
There have been reports of injuries back to 2005 and it is still on
the shelves
Dale Atkin
>> >news:dba8bce7-b126-43c5...@z11g2000prl.googlegroups.com...
>> >http://consumerist.com/5040194/owner-calls-for-chew-toy-recall-after-...
>>
>> > Here's a heartbreaking story: A dog owner is asking the public to
>> > demand the recall of a chew toy after it caused an injury to their dog
>> > that required amputation of its tongue.
>>
>> > Oh don't be SO stupid. My dog hurt himself when he grabbed a stick
>> > that
>> > was thrown
>> > for him. Should we demnd a policy of cutting ll trees down?
This is a bit of a false analogy, as this is not a fault in the design of
the tree. There is a simple modification that could be made to the toy which
would solve this problem, that (according to the page) hasn't been made (see
later comments from the company below)
>>
>> > Get a life, stop trying to scrounge and wallow in your self pitying
>> > compensation culture
>> > lifestyle.
>>
>> No they should recall it, If it can hurt the dog, it should be recalled.
>> A
>> dog can't get his tongue caught in a stick.
>> Tony
>
Can't agree with you there though. Pretty much anything *can* hurt a dog.
Heard a case around here of someone throwing a stick for a dog, and the dog
basically got impaled on the stick. Should we stop throwing sticks for dogs
(some people thought so after this happened).
> There have been reports of injuries back to 2005 and it is still on
> the shelves
I was curious about this, so I e-mailed the company. Their response follows
the dashed line.
It sounds to me as though the toy *was* redesigned with a second hole, but
that there was a problem with the manufacturing process which caused the
smaller second hole to become plugged (in some cases).
-------------------------------
Thank you very much for your email message. Like you, Four Paws is deeply
concerned about reports of injuries suffered by some dogs as a result of a
manufacturing defect in some of our Pimple Ball toys.
We want you to know that we have stopped shipping these toys to our
distributors and we have asked them to have retailers immediately remove the
toys from their shelves and return them at our expense.
We have also stopped all shipments of the toys from the manufacturer, and we
are sending Executive Vice President Barry Askin to personally inspect the
manufacturer's facility in order to make sure that the defect has been
corrected. The ball was designed with two holes to eliminate risk of
suction. Unfortunately, in the production of some balls, the smaller second
hole became blocked on the inside, thus making it hard to detect the defect
with the naked eye.
As a result, in addition to repairing the toy molds, we are also changing
the packaging of the Pimple Balls. The packaging change will result in a
tie that must clear both holes, thus insuring there are always two clear
holes in the toy.
If you purchased a Four Paws Pimple Ball with Bell toy, please immediately
take the toy away from your pet. Instructions to return the toy are posted
on our website www.fourpaws.com.
Thank you again for your message and your concern. Please be assured that
the safety and well being of pets is our top priority and we are doing
everything we can to make sure that this problem is solved as quickly as
possible.
Sincerely,
Allen Simon
President/CEO