A week ago, Christina Young had no idea that when she kissed her pup Petey goodbye before heading out to work, it would be the last time she would see him alive.
Now the Texas woman is fighting heartbreak, and wants to warn others of the common household danger that resulted in the death of her beloved dog: suffocation by chip bag.
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According to Young’s Facebook post earlier this week, her husband Christian had made it home before she did by about 10 minutes. Normally Petey would greet the couple at the door, but this time Petey wasn’t there.
“As he walked in further he saw our sweet boy laying lifeless with a stupid chip bag over his head,” she wrote. “He was able to get them off the counter that we will forever blame ourselves for leaving out. He ate every chip out but of course went back in for crumbs… with there being nothing left inside every time he would go for more he would inhale making the bag tighter & tighter around his head… ultimately resulting in suffocation.”
Petey, she says, was a smart dog and she didn’t understand why he couldn’t get the bag off his head with his paws. But after doing some research, she found this was more of a problem than she previously thought.
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Now Young is hoping others will heed her warning.
According to the website Preventive Vet, pet suffocation caused by snack bags and other bags and containers is quite common – even for cats as well.
In fact, the website reports that at least two to three pets die every week in the U.S. due to suffocation caused by a chip or other snack bag, and it can take three to five minutes for a pet to die from suffocation.
To prevent deaths like this, PreventPetSuffocation.com offers the following tips:
- Keep all snack and pet food bags safely stored away
- Tear or cut up all chip bags and food bags after use
- Store snacks and pet food in resealable plastic containers
- Keep all trash can lids tightly fastened, locked or behind a cabinet
- Learn CPR for pets
For more tips, visit their website here.
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