Deputy Dog Dies After Eating Car Seats
Koda, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois deputy dog for the Deschutes, Oregon county sheriff’s office, was in his portable kennel in his handler’s personal car. While his handler was gone, Kona escaped from his kennel and started to eat a large amount of dog food stored in the car and then he began to eat the seats of the car.
Kona choked on the foam and the police captain stated that: “the combination of the large amount of dog food and the foam from the car seats apparently caused an airway blockage or respiratory distress.” An investigation determined that the handler was not negligent.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:28 am
I can’t believe this one……I thought my Lab was unbelievable in that she’d eat most anything she could get her teeth into…..but she’s not quite this bad.
How sad that the dog died.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
A terrible story with a terrible outcome. How long was the dog left in the car?
My dog is almost as bad as that. He ate a big bag of cat food the first time I left him home alone in the house & was a big as a beach ball when I got back (10 minute trip to the store). I had to take him in to the vet because of fears he would bloat. He has also slowly been chewing the foam out of my old station wagon’s back seat (aka the dogmobile) over the past year. I know he’s been working on it again when I see foam in his doggy doo. I spray bitter apple on the seats frequently to discourage it, but it just slows him down to a nibble.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Petslave - “dogmobile” indeed! lmao
June 15th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Luckily, my current “Pit Bullmobile” has survived 3 years unscathed (if you ignore the dog hair).
I think the accepted practice of kenneling police dogs in cars for extended periods might need to be reexamined. This incident and the hyperthermia one a few weeks ago… Upsetting.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
This is what happens when you don’t give your Deputy Dog enough bad guys to eat.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
I think those Malinios can be fairly hyper & need strong direction & work to do or they get kind of crazy.
PBL - do pitbulls chew a lot in general? I bet they could do some damage if they do, but I don’t recall anyone that I know that has one saying it was a problem. All my hunting dog mixes have chewed a lot.
June 16th, 2007 at 3:06 am
Bunny (the pit bull) is an odd girl and doesn’t like to chew things at length, but I’m cautious about giving her the opportunity to seek and destroy. She does love to sneak off and shred things (junk mail, tissues, receipts — again, odd) but hasn’t been a destructive chewer since early in our get-to-know-you phase. On the other hand, anything she does gnaw on (dog treats that would distract other dogs for at least 45 mins, a leather leash, tennis ball) is destroyed within 5 minutes.
Other people have told me their pit bulls enjoy chewing on trees/logs, tires, etc. for hours. Not Bunny. Not yet, anyway.
Um, it just came to me that B. loves to destroy pillows and pull the stuffing out of her comforters…so I guess I’d better keep an ever-vigilant eye on the Pit Bullmobile’s back seat cushions!