Dealing with the loss of a pet is tough. It’s like losing a member of your family. It’s even tougher when you blame yourself for their death.
Christina Young, unfortunately, lost her dog named Petey and now she’s warning other pet owners about the hazards of pet suffocation.
“One week ago I kissed my baby boy goodbye on my way out for work. But I had no idea it would be for the last time. Although I still can’t even wrap my head around what happened @cville7 and I feel we have an obligation to share what happened to Petey to hopefully prevent it from happening to any of your babies,” Young wrote on Facebook.
Young expected to come home to her dog just as she left him, however, that unfortunately wasn’t the case.
“So we apologize in advance bc this is so hard to write about & I’m sure such a downer to read. Last Monday, Christian beat me home from work by about 10 min & was surprised when Petey didn’t greet him at the door like usual,” Young explains. “As he walked in further he saw our sweet boy lying lifeless with a stupid chip bag over his head. He was able to get them off the counter that we will forever blame ourselves for leaving out.”
Petey, unfortunately, suffocated himself after getting his head stuck inside a potato chip bag.
Young and her beau were completely shocked to say the least.
“He ate every chip out but of course went back 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,” Young said. “Petey was SMART so I didn’t understand why he couldn’t get it off with his paws.”
Young later learned that pet suffocation is actually extremely common.
“But after doing research the stats on how often this happens is shocking. 3-5 pet suffocation’s get reported every week and 42% of those occur while the owner is in the next room,” Young said. “It only takes about 3 minutes for their oxygen to drop to fatal levels. With this happening so often we were so surprised by the lack of awareness on this topic out there.”
In fact, most people who have had dogs that have died from suffocation had no idea of the hazard.
“Especially bc I was a very overprotective dog mama. In fact, 90% of the incidents reported the owner had never heard of this until it happened to them (us included). Chip bags, cereal bags, bread bags, popcorn bags, dog/cat treat bags seem to be the most common,” she explains.
“So I just ask that in honor of my boy Petey that you be extra careful, warn other dog owners & give your fur babies some extra love today and every day after this. I pray none of you ever have to experience your heartbreaking this way. We love you papas you were the best boy in the whole world & we will remember our good times forever.”
Young’s post ended up going viral and was shared more than 436,589 times.
People on social media were just as shocked as Young was to see how prevalent pet suffocation is.
“I was rather shocked when it said 42% of those the owner was in the next room… so sad!” said one commenter on Facebook.
“I’m sorry for your loss I know it’s a heartbreak. The same thing happened to my niece’s 2 yr old dog, a beautiful brown lab named Diesel – she was out for a couple of hours, went back home & found her dog’s head inside a box of cookies….dead. It was terrible! Be aware we now know it’s common,” said another.
You can see Young’s original post below.
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https://www.facebook.com/christina.young.963/posts/10215257856981326
