Please read the attached link regarding a dog toy by Four Paws called the Pimple Ball. The squeamish might not want to open the videos on the site. Please forward to anyone you know who has a dog and any other forums you are on.

I apologise in advance if this has already been posted - I'm back at work now so only did a very quick search.

Here's the link to Chai's story: http://www.thechaistory.blogspot.com/

Jean

OMG, that is absolutely horriffic. That poor poor dog.

And to the company--a$$holes. All they'd have to do to fix the product is to change the design to include a second small hole. The should recall it all until then, but not suprisingly, won't,

That poor dog! Four Paws should definitely be boycotted, and I will also be sure to look out for any toys that don't have the second little hole when buying new toys for R&B. That's just horrific.

If you go to www.fourpaws.com you'll find a store locater and you can get all of the stores in your area. A lot of them are independant stores where you can talk to the owner and show them this story. I've emailed fourpaws to get their side, let them know that their response wasn't good enough and that if I didn't receive a satisfactory one that I would be going to all of the retailers (8) within 5 miles of where I live and give them this article. Only one is a big box retailer and I doubt that I'll have much luck there but you never know. I do enough business with four of the independants however, that I think I can make a little dent in their sales up here. Ruffysdad

Oh my, that is horribly gut-wrenching...and to listen to Chai in so much pain, watching him struggling to drink. My heart broke into a million pieces.

Sending this on to everyone I know....This company needs to rectify this, pronto! It royally pi$$e$ me off that it is something so simple as adding a second hole, and yet the company won't recall and rectify the problem.."not enough instances to do something about it" Grrrrr, they would be happy to do something once more dogs and their owners have suffered???

So frustrating. I couldn't watch the video, but I sent the link to my dog friends. I'm going to drill an additional hole in our moleculeball, which only has one, just in case.

This reminds me a bit of why I'll never buy another Nalgene bottle. I can accept that they technically didn't do anything wrong since the FDA hadn't marked the chemicals used as a dangerous substance (because we know the FDA is on top of things), but when they had new, chemical free bottles out within a month I got really upset. They knew there could be problems, but held off on the new formula until profits started to dip. Grrrrrr!!!!!

I'm getting to the point where the whole family, dogs and cats included, will wear what I weave and sew, eat only what I grow in my own garden, and play with toys I can make. I'm just so frustrated with big business' preoccupation with profits and not with customers!

I just got this in my e-mail

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Ken & Patti Burton < >
To: Fellow Dog Owners/Breeders <K >; Borzoi-News < >; ; Borzoi Discussion Group < >
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:06:56 PM
Subject: [BNL]: Dangerous Dog Toy Warning

<snipped text of the blog already posted>

____________ _________ _________ _________ ___

*_Response to Boycott Letter from Four Paws:_
*
*
Thank you for your recent note expressing concern over the Four Paws^®
Pimple Ball with Bell . We were equally alarmed to learn that a dog may
have injured himself while playing with this toy.

Dogs have been enjoying the Pimple Ball with Bell for more than a decade
with over 500,000 units sold. In all the years this product has been on
the market, this is the first injury of this nature that we are aware
of. Unfortunately, accidents sometimes happen. That's why we recommend
that dogs always be supervised when they are playing with any toy. Of
course, we also take great care in developing safe products.

At this point we have identified the problem and are not shipping any
more Pimple Balls until all units are re-worked. We have contacted
customers that carry this product and have asked them to return their
inventory to be re-worked.

Thank you for your concern and feedback. Please know that we are in
direct communication with the pet owner whose dog was injured. At Four
Paws, happy pets and satisfied pet owners are our number one priority.
Rest assured we will continue to work hard to deliver on our priority.

Sincerely,

Allen Simon
President, CEO
Four Paws Products
*

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Well, at least its something.....

That's just terrible! I see balls like that at the dog park all the time! Now I know to pick them up and toss them in the dumpster! Checking all dog toys for 2 holes now! Good lord!

I got the same message and am going to wait until 9/1/08 and see if they're serious. Ruffysdad

I'm just sick after seeing that. How heartbreaking. Going home to go through the dog toys and make sure we don't have anything like that with just one hole in it.

Calypso, I'm with you...except I can't sew!

That poor dog what a horrible thing to have happen to him. I couldn't watch the video either the pictures were hard enough to look at.

Oh my goodness!! That poor poor dog!!

Neither can I. It's a big flaw in my grand plan. Maybe we can bring the tunic/bag with a hole in it into fashion.

Thanks for posting that. I just came here to do the same.

That's absolutely horrible. I emailed the story to every dog owner that I know...

Horrible - poor dogs

Thanks for sharing this with us.

So could this happen with Kongs if the smaller hole is plugged?

Very good point. Could this happen?