Pet toys are designed to keep dogs and cats entertained, but a new report raises concerns that some enrichment products can pose serious risks if swallowed. The Center for Pet Safety (CPS), a nonprofit consumer advocacy and research organization, released a new report this month finding that pet toys are the leading manufactured product linked to injury and death cases reported to the organization. The report is based on owner complaints, interviews and veterinary records reviewed by CPS.
According to CPS, 83 percent of toy-related complaints it received involved emergency veterinary treatment for gastrointestinal obstructions caused by pets swallowing toy materials or fragments. Approximately one-quarter of those reported cases ended in fatalities caused by complications such as obstruction, perforation or sepsis. Holly Dutton, medical director of VEG ER for Pets in Tampa, told Newsweek that the report's core message aligns with what she sees in practice at emergency animal hospitals; however, she cautions against broader interpretations.
"The report is describing cases reported to the Center for Pet Safety, so it doesn't actually tell us toys are the number one cause of injury in pets overall, or that most ER visits and deaths are related to pet toys," she said. While toys pose a risk to pets, Dutton said they are not the most common cause of injury or death she sees in emergency veterinary settings. Still, CPS argues the findings highlight a significant safety issue that many owners may overlook.
"Pet toys are a multi-billion-dollar industry with no required testing, recalls, or injury reporting," Lindsey Wolko, founder and CEO of the Center for Pet Safety, said in a press release. "Our review of owner interviews, incident reports, and veterinary records shows a clear and disturbing trend: indigestible toy materials are driving preventable emergencies and fatalities." While Dutton regularly treats toy-related incidents, she said those cases are only part of the picture. "Most often, we see swallowed toys or pieces of them," she said.
"We also see choking, mouth injuries, and broken teeth from chewing on hard stuff." "With cats, string or ribbon attached to a toy is a real worry if they swallow it," Dutton said. "Some pets come in right after an owner notices something's missing, and others show up later because they're vomiting, won't eat, or just aren't acting like themselves." The CPS report identified a variety of materials involved in reported incidents, including rubber, nylon, plastic, latex, silicone, rope, fabric stuffing and wire components. Many cases involved pets swallowing pieces of toys that later became lodged in the digestive tract.
Pet toys face far less oversight than products designed for children, despite being routinely chewed, torn apart and sometimes swallowed by pets, the report noted. Plus, emergency treatment can also be costly. Owners interviewed by CPS reported spending thousands of dollars on procedures to remove swallowed objects, with some surgeries exceeding $15,000 in complicated cases.
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