Three popular dog leads have been withdrawn from all Pets At Home stores in the UK and Ireland following the death of a family's beloved pet.
A Beagle-Harrier died in a collision with a van in Belfast after the clip securing the harness to the KONG-branded lead unexpectedly snapped open. Joanne McPoland and Ed Hughes had purchased the lead for their one-year-old pooch Archie just 48 hours earlier.
They told Belfast Live of their heartbreak and regret after assuming the lead made by the trusted brand would not let them down. The couple have now turned their grief into action as they've launched a campaign calling for Pets At Home to issue a product recall notice, which can only happen when approved by the US company, Mission Pets.
Pets At Home pulled all KONG Rope Dog Leads from its shelves in all of its stores within hours of being told of the accident by the couple. They will remain unavailable pending an investigation into the product.
The clip on the lead snapped open on two separate occasions. It opened for the first time while Joanne and Ed were out walking Archie but they were able to capture the dog in a driveway and reattach the lead.
But the carabiner clip clicked open again during a walk the next day and Archie wandered into the road before Ed could pull it back to safety. Archie died from severe head trauma on the side of the road after being hit by a van.
Ed told Belfast Live: “We checked the lead well before our walk on Monday because it had unexpectedly opened the previous day and it seemed to be working fine. We trusted the KONG brand and we trusted Pets At Home would only sell guaranteed safe leads. But now we know there are no guarantees.
“To witness what happened to Archie in a matter of seconds from being full of life to death, has been an absolute trauma. I saw the whole thing play out, I heard the noise, I keep playing it over in my mind. I'm tortured by it.
"I feel guilty that he was killed while I was with him. Joanne feels guilty that we bought the lead. We’re just devastated and angry and we want to warn other dog families not to assume as we did, that a trusted brand bought in good faith from a trusted shop cannot fail just when you need it most.”
The couple launched their #Action4Archie campaign, which prompted a Europe-wide withdrawal of the dog lead they bought along with two others. They were initially offered a refund of £18.99.
California-based Mission Pets Inc says the carabiner clip for this rope lead is made in China. The lead is then licensed to KONG, which has an exclusive deal with Pets At Home, which sells it across UK and Ireland in its stores.
It is not known yet how many have already been sold nationwide. Pets At Home has removed from sale each of the three types of leads with this clip and the firm is awaiting instructions to establish a product recall.
However, Mission Pets told Belfast Live that the product recall had been triggered as soon as they heard about Archie's fatal accident. The firm says it is relying on the stores to confirm the recall.
Adam Kellog from Mission Pets, who heads SportPet Design within the firm, has called for all dog owners who have bought any of the three types of KONG-branded rope leads with the clip in question, to stop using them. He says dog owners should bring the product back to Pets At Home for testing.
Joanne said: “The team leading Mission Pets had to deal with us while they were in the middle of the USA’s Global Pet Expo which is the largest pet product industry trade show in the world. But they understood our pain and dedicated time to us and showed us compassion even as they were meant to be boarding flights to the trade show.
"We feel we have been listened to by Mission Pets and we will wait to find out what their tests on the lead show. Nothing can bring Archie back, we can’t even say sorry to him. All we can do is warn other dog lovers about what happened to us in the hope it never happens again.”
A spokesperson for Pets At Home , said: “We were devastated to hear about what happened to Archie and our hearts go out to Ms McPoland and Mr Hughes at this very difficult time. We take safety concerns of this nature very seriously and are removing from sale three Kong products that use this carabiner clip, including the Rope Dog Lead, whilst we work with KONG to understand what happened. We have been in contact with Ms McPoland to offer our condolences and will keep her updated with the outcome of our investigation.”
President of Mission Pets Inc, Michelle Elliott, said: “We love pets and animals of all kinds – this is at the heart of everything we do. We take any claim against our product very seriously.
“Product safety is a top concern. We are in direct contact with the parties involved to gather all the facts and circumstances. Our engineers would like to see the product that failed. Once we understand the situation better, then we will work quickly towards resolution.”
And a spokesperson for KONG said: “We at KONG are heartbroken and working closely with our partners at Mission Pets to thoroughly understand the situation that occurred. Together we are reaching out to these pet parents to support them and receive more details.
“Never would we want to do anything to put pets in danger. Our goal is to always do what’s best for our pets and to make their lives better.
"Everything we do on a daily basis revolves around creating fun, safe and healthy interactions. We will be reviewing our products closely to determine how we best need to move forward while maintaining our high quality expectations.”
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