Pet Sitting & Rope Toys: Harmless Fun or Potentially Deadly
As a professional pet sitting and dog walking company we see it every day – rope toys. Rope toys have become very popular of late. Go to any pet store, and you’ll see a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles to choose from. They are even touted by many vets as great “natural flossing” tools for your dogs. While that may be the case, we’re hoping that people will reconsider using this toy. We’re also advocating that all professional pet sitting companies warn their clients about the danger of giving this toy to unsupervised dogs. Rope toys can kill dogs and we don’t want to see one more death due to people being unaware. Case in point is Lea Robinson’s story.
Lea Robinson lost her one-year-old, pug-beagle mix “Perry” after two unsuccessful surgeries to fix severe internal injuries. You can read her story here. According to Jaie Avila of WAOI, Robinson “bought a rope toy for Perry and within minutes he tore it apart.” Robinson then disposed of the ruined toy and only later discovered Perry had ingested a large amount of string. According to Robinson, the toy got tangled up in Perry’s intestines and acted like “a saw.”
Unfortunately, Robinson’s dog is not the only dog who has died after playing with rope toys. The Internet is strewn with similar tragedies related to this seemingly innocuous toys.
How Rope Toys Kill Dogs
Mina Youssef, a vet at Becker Animal Hospital, (unrelated to Perry’s death) commented on similar incidences saying: “It is very common to see that. What it does, it can cause a lot of damage and it can cause a blockage in the intestine which basically makes the intestine twist like an accordion.”
And what makes it worse, is it is not easily detectable. According to Avila: “not only can string or strands of rope cause severe internal damage to a dog, they don’t show up on x-rays. Often an ultrasound must be performed, which can make the problem difficult and costly to detect.”
A Pet Sitting Company’s Duty of Care
Needless to say, a professional pet sitting company is tasked with a reasonable duty of care. We would hope that all professional pet sitters go above and beyond where care is concerned. Please don’t be worried about what a client or potential client may think. There’s no such thing as being over-cautious when the life of an animal is at stake. They depend on us to take care of them.
As with all toys, we give our dogs, we have to continue doing everything in our power to make sure they are safe and harmless. Please help us spread the news that rope toys can be very dangerous by sharing this article with your friends.