Christina Young was a “very overprotective dog mama” but she did not know how easy it is for dogs to suffocate on open chip packets until it happened to her “baby” Petey.
This story has only a tragic ending, but the US woman is sharing her experience to help raise awareness around a heartbreaking, but entirely preventable, phenomenon.
Last Monday, Young and her partner Christian left for work in the morning as usual.
“I kissed my baby boy [Petey] goodbye on my way out for work. But I had no idea it would be for the last time,” she posted to Facebook on Monday.
Upon returning home from work that evening, Christian thought it was strange Petey didn’t come to the door to greet him.
“As Christian walked in he saw our sweet boy laying lifeless with a stupid chip bag over his head,” Young said. “He was able to get [the chips] off the counter and we will forever blame ourselves for leaving it out.”
“He ate every chip but, of course, went back for crumbs… With there being nothing left inside the bag, every time he would inhale he’d make the bag tighter and tighter around his head, ultimately resulting in suffocation.”
Young said she was confused, initially, about why one-year-old Petey didn’t simply pull the bag off his head with his paws. “Petey was SMART,” she said.
She didn’t yet realise how common it is.
Should you take leave from work for a new pet? Post continues below.
An organisation in the US, called Preventative Vet, has run an awareness week for pet suffocation since 2015. The week starts on November 26th and ends on December 2nd.
After surveying almost 1300 pet owners, whose dogs or cats had died or nearly died from suffocation, Preventative Vet uncovered some alarming trends.
- Until it happened to their dog or cat, 90 per cent of people were unaware of the possibility their pet could suffocate in a chip, snack, cereal, or other food bag.
- Chip or popcorn bags were the most common means of suffocation (69 per cent), followed by cereal bags, pet food bags and pet treat bags.
- The offending bags had most commonly been left in or near the rubbish or recycling bin (32 per cent); on a coffee table (21 per cent); on a kitchen countertop (11 per cent); or under a bed (seven per cent).
According to Preventative Vet, suffocation can occur in a few as three minutes and it doesn’t matter how strong, big, small, old or young the animal is.
“I just ask that in honor of my boy Petey that you be extra careful, warn other dog owners and give your fur babies some extra love today and everyday after this,” Young concluded her Facebook post.
“I pray none of you ever have to experience your heart breaking this way.”
Top Comments
This IS a heartbreaking story and is worth paying attention to.
The loss of a beloved pet is utterly tragic for anyone. We've just experienced a truly sad loss with one of our beautiful cats and 2 weeks later we're still devastated.
Male cats tend to be particularly prone to urinary tract problems and his one involved a blockage which, after only a couple of days of not being able to urinate actually killed him, even after treatment.
A word of warning - Vet fees are ridiculously high.
We had to take our beautiful ginger furry friend to a Vet on a Sunday - only to be told to take him to an Emergency center 30 mins drive away on a shitty hot day. Once we got him there there was a fuss over how we could pay their shocking fees should he have to stay a week.
We were quoted $5,000 and we didn't have that so, after the blockage was cleared and we'd paid the $480 we had to bring him home and care for him ourselves as long as we took him to the Vet again in the morning.
Sadly he'd passed away by the time we got him there.
We were shocked & experienced a lot of grief.
Basically, we couldn't afford to pay adequately for his care.
After 11 years of having a beautiful, quirky friend - he was gone. His friend is morose & quiet too.
I've written this because I don't think people realize the cost of caring for their sick pets..........insurance has to be an option next time.
So so sorry you are going through the loss of a much loved companion. Most people would struggle with a vet bill of that size.