This'll Get Tongues Wagging

Update: Wonderful news, everybody! This toy has now been recalled! For more information, please see the alert on Four Paws' Web site here.

If your dog's toybox (and every dog should have a toybox!) contains a toy called the "pimple ball with bell" made by Four Paws Products, please take a hard look at it. I have heard of dangerous toys in the past, toys with small parts that can be chewed off and cause choking, for example, but if the allegations against this toy are true, then allowing your dog to play with it might not be a good idea.

Because there is only one hole in the ball, a dog’s tongue could potentially get sucked into the hole and stuck because of a vacuum-like effect. If the circulation to the dog's tongue is cut off, the tongue also might begin to swell which could make it impossible to extract from the ball without veterinary assistance.

This is reportedly what happened to Chai, a 10-year-old lab mix, according to the blog post recounting the ordeal, and Cole, a "5-year-old bouncy beautiful lab mix," according to his guardian, as well as at least two other dogs mentioned in Chai's blog.

Cole, whose guardians report "wagged his tail up till the very end when we let him cross the rainbow bridge due to the horrendous injury to his tongue," was euthanized.

Chai survived but endured an enormous amount of pain, had to have his tongue amputated, and also had to learn new ways of eating, drinking, and cooling himself, which was a monumental task for him and his guardian. Both Cole's and Chai's guardians report that they have contacted Four Paws about their respective ordeals but that they were not notified of any changes that have been made to the product that would help prevent tragedies like this from happening to other dogs.

If you have one of these toys, please exercise caution and consider removing the item from your dogs' toy box. Please also ask Four Paws to make changes to this toy to prevent future tragedies from happening.