The most significant dangers are often the ones that you can’t see. Courtney Gresham recently and unexpectedly lost her beloved pup because of a freak accident, and she hopes that her story will now help save other pups’ lives.
Courtney’s pup Emmie was wearing a collar inside a kennel, and she accidentally strangled herself to death.
Courtney and her husband Brent thought that their Border Collier would be safe inside her kennel, but it ended up taking a turn for the worse. They thought that they’d do good by putting their pup inside a cage to keep them safe, but a horrible accident led to Emmie’s death.
The pup was five years old at the time and is put into her crate every morning because Courtney and her husband aren’t comfortable letting her roam around the house unsupervised.
Emmie’s crate had plenty of room and the pup was always very comfortable. She could play around, take a nap and the kennel wasn’t cramped at all. While mom and dad were at work, Emmie had no troubles keeping herself busy. However, as you can imagine, the pup would much rather be with her owners, but that simply wasn’t possible.
“On Tuesday morning before leaving for work, Emmie and I did our usual routine… She went out in the yard to potty, she had a little breakfast and so did I, I threw a few treats around the kitchen for her to chase and pounce upon before eating, and I put her in her (extra-extra-large) wire metal crate before leaving. (…) I blew her a kiss, told her bye, and said that I’d see her after work.”
Courtney arrived home a little bit early that day. She was shocked to see Emmie up on her back legs.
The poor pup’s collar had managed to get stuck on a part of the metal crate near the top, which strangled her. Courtney then tried to save her pet by bringing her to the emergency veterinarian, but tragically, it was already too late.
“In tears and screaming, I opened the door and unhooked the hung part of her collar. She was unresponsive. I rushed her to the emergency vet to see if they could save her… but sadly, it was too late.”
“The vet called it a freak accident. She was trying to open the kennel door, her collar got hung on a jutted-out piece of the crate, and she had been strangled.”
Courtney and Brent had no idea that a simple collar could be so dangerous when put inside of a crate. They had no idea about the dangers that it would bring and didn’t think about it. Collars can get hung in a crate, or even on another dog when they’re playing together, often with terrible consequences. Other examples are collars getting stuck on doorknobs and low, sturdy tree branches.
“We learned this the hard way,” Courtney posted. “So many ‘what ifs’ and ‘why didn’t I this’ are playing our minds.
Courtney now urges people in a heartfelt Facebook post to never put collared animals in a kennel or crate.
“I beg you to never put a collared animal in a crate. Take off the collar. Or at least, get a ‘break-away’ collar. I had never heard of these collars, but if they get caught on anything, they immediately break open and free the dog.”
At first, she wasn’t sure if she should even share her terrible story, but she hopes that her plea will at least save one dog’s life. Her post went viral on Facebook and was seen tens of thousands of times, so it’s likely that it did.
“I didn’t know whether to share this or not. I feel so guilty that it happened. Now in hindsight, I see so many ways it could have been prevented. But if it saves even one dog’s life, it’s worth to share.”
Apparently, these accidents with collars occur more often than people would think.
Professional dog trainer Fanna Easter has been through the exact same thing, she writes on her blog. Luckily, her pup could still be saved because she and her husband were home when it happened.
She also says that no less than 15% of all of her clients have experienced something similar, and have had their pets strangled by their collar.
It’s incredibly important to realize the dangers of letting your pets wear a collar inside of a crate or kennel. Forewarned is forearmed!
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