Four Paws withdrew a 'pimple ball' dog toy from the market following reports of injuries to dogs.
In mid-August 2008, a pet owner posted to his personal blog a horrific account of injuries sustained by his dog after the animal's tongue became lodged in a 'pimple ball' dog toy. The narrative, which was accompanied by gruesome photos ofthe wounded pooch, described the efforts to remove the ball from the animal's tongue and the veterinary care it subsequently underwent. According to the account, ultimately the dog's tongue had to be amputated.The blogger (identified in his posts only as 'CHAI,' the same name as the dog), also reported his efforts to get the manufacturer of the toy to remove the item from store shelves, summarizing its response as 'and it is their position that there just aren't enough instances to do anything about this.'The unfolding story of Chai's and his owner's travails is recorded at http://www.thechaistory.blogspot.com/. In a post dated 24 August 2008, Chai's owner describes his interactions with Four Paws, the maker of the toy that injured his dog. According to that blog, the company's response to his contacting them was to forward everything to their insurance company. Said insurance company not only did not reply to him within the two-week timeframe they had imposed on themselves (instead, he contacted them once three weeks had passed), but they tendered an unspecified offer that did not include instituting a recall of the toy.The blog's initial entry came to be widely circulated in e-mail, along with its call for a boycott of all Four Paws products until the product was recalled.On 26 August 2008, the toy's manufacturer placed a notice on its site advising that the toy in question was being recalled from the market and replaced with a redesigned version:Four Paws is deeply concerned about reports of injuries suffered by some dogs as a result of a manufacturing defect in some of its Pimple Ball with Bell toys. In August 2008, we stopped shipping all potentially affected toys and implemented a recall directing all our distributors to have retailers remove them from their shelves and return them at Four Paws expense. We have since redesigned both the toys and packaging to insure this defect will not occur again. Please be assured that the safety and well being of pets is and always will be Four Paws top priority.For list of UPCs plus the address for product returns, click here.
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