Three popular dog leads have been urgently pulled from shop shelves across Ireland following the tragic death of a beloved family dog.
Archie, a Beagle-Harrier, was being walked in Co Antrim when the clip securing his harness to the KONG-branded lead snapped open, leaving the one-year-old unsecured. Tragically, the dog stepped in front of a van and died.
His heartbroken family, Joanne McPoland and Ed Hughes from Dunmurry in Belfast, had only bought the lead 48 hours earlier.
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Pets At Home, which has 11 outlets in the north, were contacted by the couple and within hours the company had every KONG Rope Dog Lead removed from sale pending an investigation.
Now Joanne and Ed are urging the public to check their own dog leads after their #Action4Archie drive prompted a Europe-wide withdrawal of the one they bought as well as two others.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Ed, 39, who was walking Archie at the time of the road accident, said: “Archie was basically my wee son. That’s just how I feel. I don’t have children of my own, he was my wee man, my first dog and the best thing to walk into our home.
"Joanne and I adored him and we used to joke that if we had to choose between one of us and the dog, it would be a close run thing. Now he’s gone and our home feels desolate. Our hearts are broken.”
Joanne bought the KONG-branded lead from Pets At Home on Boucher Road last Saturday. On Sunday the clip opened during a walk, releasing Archie but the couple were able to corral him in a driveway and put the lead back on.
The following day while on another walk, the carabiner clip clicked open again but this time Archie stepped into the road before Ed could pull him to safety and the dog was hit by a van. Archie died on the roadside from severe head trauma.
Ed said: “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 contacted Pets At Home to tell them what happened while using the KONG Rope Dog Lead and were initially offered a refund of £18.99 (€22.81).
Distraught, they turned to DogsLive on BelfastLive for help.
Joanne said: “We were sick with shock, we needed to explain what had happened and we wanted to understand how Archie could possibly be dead when we’d spent his whole life making sure he was secure, safe and looked after.
“With the help we got through to KONG and then the manufacturer of the lead in the USA, a company called Mission Pets.
“Thankfully they listened to us, they responded quickly and sales of the leads with this particular carabiner clasp were stopped immediately, and they were removed from all of the Pets At Home shops with immediate effect.
"The three companies now want our lead to do tests on it and try to ensure whatever happened, never happens again. It will go to Mission Pets for full testing.
“Sadly though it is just too late for our wee man. We’re bereft, devastated to have lost Archie in this way. He was such a good boy, the heart of our family who was just starting what we’d hoped would be a long and healthy life. He only turned one a week ago. Now he’s dead and all we have left are his ashes in a cask.
“For people who don’t love dogs it may be difficult to understand, but we feel lost without him. The shock, the grief and the guilt are overwhelming. We seem to be stuck on a loop going over it again and again.
“If we had not used that lead, if that clip had not failed, we would have him here by our side safe and happy. Instead our home has been consumed by sorrow. Anyone who loves a dog will understand what we’re going through.
“We don’t blame the van driver, he was within speed limit on the road and he hadn't a chance because Archie bolted the moment he knew he was free when the clip failed. He ran over the road at The Cutts to a man who was out walking and was being petted.
"But as Ed went to get him, Archie stepped backwards onto the road. It was horrendous for the driver too, he was in tears and he has our every sympathy. We hope he's OK. The only lucky thing is that Ed wasn't hit by a car because he stepped out instinctively to get Archie.
“We have spoken to Mission Pets who make the lead and license it to KONG, and they immediately withdrew the lead from sale.
"And they want anyone who has one of these KONG branded Rope Dog Leads to stop using it immediately until they can work out what happened. We’re grateful for that and hope no one goes through the trauma we’re living now.
“Archie was our responsibility and we did everything in our power to make sure he was safe, secure, happy and healthy in every aspect of his life. We had Robin Bates, an experienced dog trainer come and train us how to train Archie and keep him safe.
“And because he was a Harrier Beagle and his recall was not yet good enough to trust, we made sure he was on a short lead on town walks and was never allowed off it.
"We bought what we assumed was a good quality lead under the KONG label, we trusted the shop and we trusted KONG but our dog is dead because the clip on the lead failed and released his harness in an instant.”
Mission Pets Inc, based in California, say the carabiner clip for this rope lead manufactured in China. The lead is then licensed to KONG and KONG sells it across the UK and Ireland exclusively through Pets At Home stores. It is unclear at this stage how many have already been sold nationwide.
Each of the three types of leads with this clip has been removed from all the stores and Pets At Home say they are awaiting instruction to establish a product recall.
However Mission Pets have told Belfast Live the product recall was triggered as soon as they heard about the fatal accident with Archie and they say they are relying on the stores to confirm the recall.
The US firm's Adam Kellogg, who heads SportPet Design within the company, also 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 and return them to Pets At Home for testing.
Joanne, 43, 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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