More owners hit out at dog danger

3:50pm Tuesday 8th January 2013 in News By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter

Tia survived after eating one of the dog treats Tia survived after eating one of the dog treats

More dog owners have condemned a treat sold in a major supermarket that was responsible for the death of a pet.

As reported in The Argus last week, James Lancaster and Anna Carey’s miniature schnauzer Burtie was killed by a shard of bone from a Bob Martin dog treat on Christmas Day.

Now two more dog owners have come forward to say their animals were injured by the bones sold at Tesco and given as festive treats.

Tesco and Bob Martin have vowed to investigate whether the bones were safe or should be removed from sale after Burtie’s death.

David Morris, from Upper Beeding, gave his miniature schnauzer Tia one of the treats.

He said: “My dog almost died after ingesting an identical Bob Martin bone treat, bought at Shoreham Tesco.

Supervision

“The so-called warning label is totally inadequate – they should be withdrawn from sale.

“We fed the chews to our dogs, under supervision as instructed on the label.

“Later that night and during the early hours of the following morning one of our pet dogs was taken violently ill, and in the morning we were so concerned we took her straight to the vet.

"The vet took an X-ray and said that she had a blockage in her gut caused by the bone chew. It looked as though she would need an operation to remove the blockage, and her life hung in the balance.

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“Tia is okay now but it was very close and we thought she was going to die.”

Vet treatment

Ian and Vera Burch told The Argus their dogs had also fallen ill after eating the bones.

Mr Burch said: “James and Anna were not alone in believing that if they purchased what is seen as a quality product from a reputable retailer that the product would be safe.

"We gave our dogs Bob Martin ham bones, purchased from Tesco, which caused them to have constipation. One dog was so severely constipated that she had to be treated by our vet over a period of two days.”

Tesco expressed its condolences and promised to review the product after Burtie’s death was reported by The Argus.

Investigation

Yesterday (January 7) a spokesman added: “We take any reports of faulty products very seriously and will be urgently investigating these cases with our supplier.”

A spokeswoman for Bob Martin added: “We take all issues with our products seriously and we understand Mr Morris and Mr and Mrs Burch’s concerns.

"We would encourage the customers to get in touch regarding the incident and we will fully investigate their complaints with them.

"Until we have fully investigated each situation, we are unable to comment on the specific cases.”

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Comments(12)

lillylou says...
4:06pm Tue 8 Jan 13

I thought dogs were only allowed beef bones cos there durable, as for bob Martin taking profit over dogs the company are a disgrace and should take them off shelves immediately risking people's beloved pets this should be in national paper !!!

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bruce_ says...
4:33pm Tue 8 Jan 13

I hope most dog owners are more literate than "lillylou" -- though one can just about understand what she's on about. (I have this image of yobs and yobettes with dangerous dogs, just waiting to release them against us...)

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bruce_ says...
4:33pm Tue 8 Jan 13

I hope most dog owners are more literate than "lillylou" -- though one can just about understand what she's on about. (I have this image of yobs and yobettes with dangerous dogs, just waiting to release them against us...)

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jamus77 says...
4:44pm Tue 8 Jan 13

Thanks for your constructive input Bruce.

Surely Tesco should pull these bones from their shelves with immediate effect, while they 'urgently investigate with their supplier...'

Or are they waiting for another dog to die?

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Purple55 says...
6:13pm Tue 8 Jan 13

"Tesco and Bob Martin have vowed to investigate whether the bones were safe or should be removed from sale after Burtie’s death."

Surely the fact that at least 1 dog has died, a vet has confirmed that the bone chew caused a gut blockage in another dog, and others made ill is enough to withdraw the product. Tesco and Bob Martin do not need to investigate whether the bones are safe… clearly they are not.

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ICantThinkOfAName says...
6:32pm Tue 8 Jan 13

Just a point of information, were/are Tesco the only retailer selling this product?

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Purple55 says...
6:54pm Tue 8 Jan 13

If it's this item "Bob Martin Premium Ham Bone", Asda and Ocado currently sell it. Btw, (again if same product) found another 'victim' back from 2010! Bob Martin clearly didn't think it dangerous back then...
http://www.gal.org.u
k/index.php/forums/v
iewthread/945/

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Purple55 says...
7:02pm Tue 8 Jan 13

It gets worse, Oct 2010:
http://www.facebook.
com/pages/Ban-lethal
-pet-products-such-a
s-the-Parma-Ham-Bone
/154825021222202?sk=
info

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lillylou says...
3:43pm Wed 9 Jan 13

bruce_ wrote:
I hope most dog owners are more literate than "lillylou" -- though one can just about understand what she's on about. (I have this image of yobs and yobettes with dangerous dogs, just waiting to release them against us...)
Literate literate literate!!!

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martyt says...
4:44pm Thu 10 Jan 13

if only one dog died in 2012 from these bones there is not much of a risk, one in how many million dogs ,there is more chance of been hit by a bus but i dont see people calling for buses to be banned ,this is more about a dog owner given a bone to there dog and not keeping an eye on there pet ,there is all ways a choke risk with a bone so the owner should keep an eye oh the dog while its having a chew .

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Purple55 says...
7:50pm Thu 10 Jan 13

@martyt: If you read the article properly, and do online research (where'll you find more than 1 dog a year has died!), you'll see the dogs are not choking on these bones whilst eating them nor whilst owners are watching them. The damage occurs later, the bones are blocking/damaging their stomachs. That's why this product is so dangerous; the owners are following correct procedure but, unfortunately, do not have x-ray vision to see what's occurring inside their pets.

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mischaandtrulysmummy says...
3:26pm Mon 28 Jan 13

Two years ago my two year old Labrador was saved by my quick thinking vet. Same product, same store purchased. Bob Martin paid £1136.90 to the vet and Tesco gave my Labrador a £20 gift voucher for a toy. I begged Bob Martin to remove the product. Tragic.Mischa will live with the scars. Bertie can't.

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