As loving dog owners, we know that keeping our pups safe is more important than anything. Their health, happiness, and well-being are all in our hands– as they cannot care for themselves. Just as we baby-proof our homes for toddlers, we have to be mindful of what hidden dangers may impact our dogs. We try to use our common sense — but in this case, even common sense didn’t save lives.
One dog, named Wasabi, was a recent victim to this hidden danger. His grandma, Patricia Polacco, posted this to Facebook:
“My Daughter Traci lost her dearest dog Wasabi to this…it was a pork rind bag. She had left to go pick up something at a friends, wasn’t even gone 10 minutes and her roommate called. He found her next to the front door with the bag still on her head. HAD SHE KNOWN……..it hadn’t even crossed her mind that something like this could happen. None of us knew!!!! Please spread the word. Chip bags, zip lock bags that had left over food in them, treat bags, yogurt containers, Especially the YoPlait, cut it all up!!!! Don’t leave them where pups and cats can get to them. Our hearts are still broken. Thank you.”
According to WUSA 9, another dog, named Menja, fell prey to a snack bag as well. Shira Reese, his mom, spoke with the news outlet, recalling the day she found her dog dead:
“I went downstairs and I found him unresponsive with a Goldfish bag around his neck,” Shira told WUSA 9. “At that point, he was stiff.”
Bonnie Harlan, another dog-mom, recalled a similar traumatic event: “He had knocked over lamps and tables and things like that before he finally suffocated. It was a horrendous way to go.”
A third dog owner, Debbie Smith, also spoke about her worst day imaginable, “[He] was starting to swell and such. It was just unbearable. He was my life for 10 years. I wept like a baby for days and weeks.”
The four dogs were just acting on basic instinct: Hunger.
Their hunger cost them their lives.
Any and every dog is at risk. It doesn’t matter how well they are trained, or how big or small they are. Dog owners would rarely consider something like this to be a death trap but it is.
Our best advice:
Keep ALL snack bags behind a locked door. Another smart option is to buy sealable containers that fit in your pantry. This will also keep your snacks fresh longer and save you money in the long run.
Just as our human children do, our dogs depend on us to keep them safe. Please be diligent. Their lives are at stake. Pass this along to all dog parents.
This hidden danger should NOT be ignored! Watch the video below.
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