Dog chokes to death on chew

A WOMAN whose dog died while choking on a chew is calling for the product to be recalled.

Nicola Silverlock, from Chalkhouse Green, wants Pets Corner to remove its Great & Small vegetable chew from its shelves after losing her two-year-old French bulldog Ace.

Ms Silverlock, 60, described the incident as “horrific” and believes the chew may be a danger to other dogs.

Pets Family, which owns the pet shop where she bought the chew and the company that manufactures it, says there is nothing wrong with its product.

The incident took place on Sunday, April 7 after Ms Silverlock bought a bag of the animal-shaped chews from the Pets Corner shop in Gardiner Place, Henley. After confirming with the sales assistant that the products were made of vegetable matter, she went home and gave one to each of her three dogs.

Ace was given a lion-shaped chew, his sister Indie a unicorn chew and River, a mini dachshund, a dragon chew.

A minute later, she saw that Ace had collapsed in the garden.

Ms Silverlock said: “I ran out and he was foaming at the mouth. It was clear he was choking.

“It was just horrific to watch and not be able to do anything.”

She ran to her neighbour’s house for help and then took Ace to Vets Now, an out-of-hours clinic in Tilehurst Road, Reading.

Ms Silverlock said: “By the time we got there unfortunately he had died. The vet gave him adrenaline and tried to do CPR but it was too late.

“They managed to pull the chew out of his throat and the vet said that it looked fibrous, like it had a structure to hold it in shape.

“The head of the lion was the bit stuck in his throat. She said, ‘I think you should go and explain what has happened to the pet shop as this does not look safe’.”

Ms Silverlock, who is chief executive of an advertising and marketing agency, said her children, Archie, 24, and Ali, 27, were devastated by Ace’s death.

She said: “They are desperately sad to lose one of the dogs as they are like family.” The next day she returned to the shop to explain to the manager what had happened and to ask for the details of the chew manufacturer.

Ms Silverlock said: “She said she didn’t know and that they were bought through a supplier.

“I left my telephone number and the vets’ details and she said she would speak to head office.”

Ms Silverlock also requested that the product be removed from the store within a week.

She said: “I used to work in retail so I know that recalling a product can take time but I didn’t want anyone else in this situation.

“I went back into the shop and they were still on sale. I said no one had called me. They contacted my vet but not me.”

She finally received a message on Friday from Pets Family group chairman Dean Richmond who apologised and offered to pay for the vet’s bill.

He also offered to make a donation to a charity of Ms Silverlock’s choosing in Ace’s memory.

“He said that there was always a risk that anyone or anything could choke,” said Ms Silverlock.

“He called my dog a thing — I was not impressed.”

Later that day, Mr Richmond told her that the product had been taken off sale but this turned out to be the unicorn chew, not the lion which Ace had been given.

She said: “No one had been in touch with me to check. I emailed him to say I was appalled.”

Mr Richmond told the Henley Standard that Ace’s death was “extremely sad”.

He said that only the dragon chew was still on sale.

The other two had been taken off sale for checks but he expected them to go back on the shelves by next week because he was confident that a product failure would not be found due to the company’s quality control process.

Mr Richmond said: “As a father of three young children and owner of two dogs, choking is a constant fear.

“I would not wish this terrible situation on any parent or owner and wish the customer and their family the very best. It is very sad.

“As a precaution, I agreed we would remove the item from sale and have the entire stock checked. The unicorn chew has now been checked and we are satisfied it is not a product failing. We have a quality control process in place to check our products so I was confident this would be the case.

“I updated the customer with the checks we were carrying out but didn’t hear back from her until 24 hours later where she advised it was in fact the lion version of the same treat.

“I immediately had this product removed and it is currently being checked as well. I do not expect us to find any issues with it.

“Regarding the vet’s comments on fibre, I am unable to understand why they have said this. The product contains very little fibre.

“The vet will not speak to us without the customer’s permission and we have not had access to the vet’s report so it is very hard to comment. It is my view that the vet’s report does not implicate the product as faulty.

“There is always a risk of choking whenever an item is in the mouth of a pet and for this reason our signage, advice and literature guides customers to ensure an animal has adult supervision.

“In my 35 years of selling pet products, I have sold hundreds of millions of toys and treats and all are selected or developed for their quality and safety.

“Pets Corner operates as a high-quality retailer so customers can shop with us knowing that our products are the best available.”

Mr Richmond said staff at the shop were upset by the incident and he apologised to Ms Silverlock for the communication breakdown.

He said: “The customer visited our Henley store to tell us of the terrible news. The member of staff at the time was relatively junior and struggled to deal with the matter as best as possible.

“I replied to the customer as soon as I was able to gather information and an email was sent apologising profusely for the fact that nobody had engaged properly with her over the incident.”

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