Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on August 21, 2008 at 5:51pm

Wow, that is awful!

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Permalink Reply by Nicole on August 21, 2008 at 9:28pm

Poor thing. I can't imagine what the dog (and his owner) have gone through. I had to stop the first video because I couldn't stand hearing the dog whine anymore. I didn't even try to watch the second.

I'm so glad that the company has decided to do the right thing, though nothing they can do could possibly make up for what has happened.

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Permalink Reply by Cam on August 21, 2008 at 10:47pm

Oh my... I don't think I would be able to watch that video, it would be too much. The pictures were enough for me. That is terrible and brought tears to my eyes.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on August 22, 2008 at 12:18am

Thanks for sharing this story. I cried while reading/watching the link (very difficult to watch!).
I don't have the pimple ball, but have something similar. I checked to see if the holes are open on both sides and they are, but decided to not let the boys play with it anymore - can't shake the image of poor Chai's pain.
I hope any one who has the pimple ball is aware of the danger.....

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Permalink Reply by Sarah C. on August 22, 2008 at 1:27am

Did they every give that guy money? Look at the state of his dog! :(

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Permalink Reply by Mei-ling-chan on August 22, 2008 at 9:06am

Thank you for sharing this- there are probably lots of other people out there with this product, unaware of the danger...I cried just looking at the pictures, so I didn't even attempt to look at the videos....

Even though it is good to hear, IN THE END the company did the right thing... but it seems that at first they just didn't care. The owner shouldn't have had to organize a boycott- companies need to be responsible for their own products and should have stepped up right from his first contact with them...

I hope poor Chai and his owner can regain some sort of normalcy soon.

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Permalink Reply by Missi on August 22, 2008 at 4:02pm

I sent an email to the company and this is what I got back:
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. We take great care in developing safe products for pets and their owners.

At this point we have identified the problem and are not shipping any more Pimple Balls. We have contacted customers that carry this product and have asked them to immediately return their inventory.

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
Sent by Alexis Danvers on behalf of Allen Simon

I also received this email from customer service:
Dear concerned pet owners:
Please see the attached comments now posted on the Chia Story blog. We have and are making every effort to ensure that this does situation does not happen again. As you can see from Mr. Rechelbacher’s comments we feel he is very comfortable that Four Paws has reacted in a responsible way.

(You can go to the link in my original post to see their response to Chai's family)
My response to both of these emails is:
I appreciate that your company has agreed to help this family with their expenses. However - it took numerous letters from pet owners to your company to get to this point. As a pet owner it is a little alarming to me that this family had to go to such extremes. As a result of what appears to be little care for the customers of your products - I will no longer be purchasing ANY of them - as I don't agree with how your company does business - and what appears to be lack of concern for it's customers - the dogs.

Missi

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Permalink Reply by Jen Hajdu on August 22, 2008 at 4:34pm

That is horrible. Miles got his tongue stuck in a barbell toy that looks similar. We were able to get his tongue out by putting a lot of butter and slowly wiggling the toy off his tongue but he was still traumatized by the event and so were we!! Poor Chai, at least he has a wonderful owner taking excellent care of him.

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Permalink Reply by Sam & Shelby on August 22, 2008 at 4:50pm

I am very touched by the commitment of the owner. Many people would probably put their dog down. I truley hope that the company pays for some, if not all of the medical expenses (sp?).

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