Bad Ball, Bad Business

Just when you thought you'd heard enough about corporate irresponsibility: I just read a story about a lab in New York who got his tongue sucked into a rubber ball this past June and had to have it amputated after the ball was surgically removed. They had to amputate his tongue! HIS TONGUE!

I'm not exactly sure what caused the vacuum effect that locked his tongue inside, but it was a really awful situation for both the dog (whose name is Chai) and his owner (whose name is Daniel Rechelbacher). And what makes it even more awful is that the company who makes the nubbly ball, Four Paws, Inc., had learned three years ago (from a dog owner whose dog had died from his injuries) that their toy was faulty, and they chose to do nothing about it. They kept selling the ball, employing that popular auto-maker's strategy known as If-The-Potential-Lawsuit-Will-Cost-Us-Less-Than-A-Recall-We-Choose-To-Ignore-The-Problem. Classy.

And you know crappy toys get made all the time – it's a buyer beware sort of situation. But the fact that Four Paws knew they were making something evil, even if it was randomly evil, and chose not to do anything about it is what makes me want to unload a piping hot bag of feces into the lobby of their corporate HQ. Because how can you call yourself a dog-loving company when you're knowingly making something harmful? YOU CAN'T. And I won't have dog haters making toys for my dog.

Especially if they also make toys that look like this:


I mean, really.

Chai's story