Pet Safety - Dog Toys

Pet Toy Safety - A True Story

I got this in an email and was so touched by the loss of this poor man I felt it was something that others should be aware of. I immediately asked permission from Vickie Timmers, RN, the person in the incident, to make a page for this story to bring awareness of the possibility of this happening and permission was granted.

The following actually is true, and even if you are skeptical and don't believe this actually happened, you might stop to think about it anyway, and pass the word to all of your friends.

For those who do not know me, I am a nurse in the emergency department in a small community hospital on Vancouver Island. This morning, Good Friday on a long weekend when ERs are always full and very busy, we had a terrible incident. A very frantic and desperate man raced into the ER carrying an enormous, absolutely beautiful and totally limp dog. You can well imagine that had this happened at a major general hospital, he would never have slipped past the door. But we are small, and the ER staff, despite having a full caseload and immediately understanding this dear man's desperation, quickly assessed the situation and attempted to assist. It was too late. The dog was dead.

This beautiful two year old dog and his owner had been playing catch the ball, his favorite game. The Indian rubber ball somehow went too far down his throat and blocked his windpipe. The dog choked to death. This poor man tried desperately to clear his windpipe when the dog lost consciousness, and his hand was rather scratched by the teeth, but he couldn't dislodge the ball. He then drove like fury to every vet in town, all closed due to the long weekend. In final hope, he raced to ER. But too much time had elapsed.

The reason I am telling you this is to ask you for the love of your animals, to check your dog's toys. If they are small enough to fit inside the dog's mouth fully, they are small enough to choke your dog! A play toy, when carried by a dog, should not quite fit into his mouth fully. It should hang out visibly. If you can't see it clearly in his mouth, it is too small.

As your puppy grows, get rid of his small toys. If you had a smaller dog in the past, the toys will not suit your bigger dog. Throw those little toys away!

I will personally speak to my vet at the earliest opportunity, requesting that he write an article for the paper about pets' toys and the choking hazard. I hope to see notices posted in veterinary clinics and dog food/toy shops about selecting the right size toys for a dog. I am asking that you do the same. Please.

And as I said at the top, I am asking that you forward this to all of your friends who love their animals.

Further, when long weekends are coming up, it might be wise to know "in advance" how to access the nearest vet who is on call for emergencies.

This was a preventable accident! My heart broke for this man, and I do not ever want to hear of it happening to another dog who is simply "having fun".

Please help me get this message out.
Thank you,
Vickie Timmers, RN

I want to first thank Vickie Timmers for sending this important story out and Suzaan for getting it to me so I was able to post it here for all who pass this way to read. Maybe it might just save a pets life.

Strawberry