Andrea Watts calls her dog Stella her first baby, after adopting her six years ago. Photo / Supplied
Andrea Watts calls her dog Stella her first baby, after adopting her six years ago. Photo / Supplied
Warning: Graphic photos
An Auckland dog owner is calling for pet owners to be more aware when purchasing dog toys after her dog's cheek was sliced when playing with a frisbee.
Andrea Watts says her dog, Stella, received the injury earlier this week while playing with the $5 "Water Fetch Disk" she recently purchased from Kmart.
Stella, a staffie/boxer cross who Watts says is extremely energetic, playful and loves dog toys, was playing fetch with the toy in a park.
After playing with the frisbee, Stella's owner decided to make a trip to the local beach.
She also noticed blood on the frisbee, which is when she pieced the incident together.
Normally Stella picks up the frisbee from the ground once it has fallen but Watts says this time she jumped in the air and tried to catch the frisbee, but the toy hit her in the face.
After noticing the cut, Watts immediately took her dog to the vet, saying she was not concerned about the price of surgery.
The Staffie cross Boxer is six years and one month old. Photo / Supplied
Watts,calls Stella her "first baby" and revealed she "couldn't even look at her" after she suffered the grisly injury.
"We saw it and we thought 'oh my God we need to find a vet now'."
The cut on Stella was very deep.
"It's like someone had ripped her cheek," she said.
Stella spent two and a half hours in surgery, as a nervous Watts waited.
After a long surgery and "quite a few stitches", Stella's cheek was stitched back up and a drainage pipe put in to ensure no dirt was in the wound.
Watts says Stella has many toys and wants to warn dog owners to be careful when purchasing dog toys "no matter where from".
Dr Alison Vaughan, SPCA scientific officer, told the Herald: "When selecting a toy, check for sharp edges, small pieces which could become choking hazards, and ribbons or string which could be swallowed.
"It is also important to choose toys which are appropriate for your dog's size, play style and chewing ability. Supervise play and discard toys when they become damaged."
Stella's owner found it hard to look at the grisly injury. Photo / Supplied
The bloody frisbee. Photo / Supplied
The night Stella received the wound Watts filled out a Kmart complaint form and followed it up with a phone call.
She was told to return the product which would then be sent to the quality team in Australia for the product to be investigated.
In an email obtained by the Herald, a Kmart employee told Watts: "We are concerned to hear of your experience and that your dog was injured."
Mark Hollingsworth, national manager consumer protection for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), told the Herald MBIE had not received any product safety reports about dog frisbees or any reports of an injury caused by a frisbee in the past 12 months.
He urged anyone concerned about the safety of a product to contact their retailer.
"Under the Consumer Guarantees Act, among other guarantees, products must be of acceptable quality and safe to use. If a product is not of an acceptable quality you have the right to ask for a refund, repair, or replacement. Consumers can also claim compensation for any damages or loss caused by the products (except for personal injury, which is covered by ACC)," he said.
"We encourage consumers to report potentially unsafe products to MBIE via the Product Safety website."
A Kmart spokesperson told the Herald: "At Kmart, the health and safety of our community is our highest priority and we are concerned to hear of the injury that has occurred.
"Once the customer's product is received at our head office it will be investigated by our quality technicians and we will liaise directly with the customer during this time."
