Roll-A-Treat Ball - toy warning

[nick teifke]

Hi all! Forwarded w/ permission

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In a message dated 10/15/98 5:32:12 AM EST, Tamisakita@aol.com writes:

Hi Everyone: Just thought I'd let you know about this toy that caused my
sister-in-law's Rottie to have a visit to the Emergency Vet's a few days ago. The toy is called Roll-a-Treat Ball, and retails here in Canada for $14.99. The dog is a year and a half old, and has had this toy for
approx. 3 months. The ball is made of hard plastic, and has a removable yellow
"plug" which allows treats to be put inside the ball, which the dog then proceeds to try to get out. (It sounds something like the
Buster Cube). Somehow, the dog was able to chew the "plug" out, and then got its lower jaw/ teeth stuck in the grooves
around the hole, where the yellow plug fits into the ball. The owners of the dog
tried to remove the ball, but could not get it off the dog's lower jaw.
The dog started to panic, and its lower lips and gums started to swell and bleed.
They rushed the dog to the emergency vet, where one option was to remove
the ball with a hammer, but they were afraid it might cause more injury
to the dog's jaw. So the dog was given an anaesthetic and it took an HOUR
for the vet to remove the ball from the dog's jaw!! The vet fee was $250.00.
The vet told them that this is the Second accident like this in the past 3 weeks
at THAT clinic, with one of these Roll-a-Treat Ball dog toys!
There is nothing on the packaging with the ball that states whether this toy is for
large or small dogs. The manufacturer of this potentially dangerous dog toy
is Ethical Products Incorp., Spot Pet Division, Newark, NJ 07107.
I have not seen this ball, -- am just describing what I have heard from my
sister-in-law today. She wanted me to post this warning to this list, and hopes that someone else might post it to other dog lists, in particular the Rottie list, so that it might prevent other dogs from having a
similar accident. Imagine if something like this happened while the owners were
out, - having left one of these toys with their dogs to "amuse" them during
their abscence!! The consequences could be too terrible to imagine!

My relative said that these toys are SALE PRICED now, too, and she is afraid
people might be buying them to give their pets at Christmas!.
My thanks to anyone who is able to pass this warning on to other dog
lists.

[fersh]

I have seen this on Rottie L, but i don't think it is the Buster Cube, which doesn't have anything removable. If my girl can't demolish it, none can! Probably a cheaper version of the toy