While Marshall’s vet got the substances out of him through induced vomiting, there are concerns for his long-term health. Photo / Supplied
While Marshall’s vet got the substances out of him through induced vomiting, there are concerns for his long-term health. Photo / Supplied
A South Island man’s dog faces long-term injuries after a delivery blunder resulted in the pet consuming mailed medication.
Christchurch man Cody Kahle forked out over $700 in vet bills to have his dog Marshall’s stomach pumped after it chomped into a package with sensitive pharmaceutical products.
Kahle feels the incident was entirely preventable, blaming a delivery company for failing to follow “simple” instructions.
The medicinal package, mailed to his house with NZ Post, had instructions to be left in a brown box by his front door.
Instead, the package was hurled into his backyard - where Mashall, an American bulldog went to town on the substances.
“It was clear in the instructions, saved online to a number of couriers to not let the dogs get into the parcels,” Kahle told the Herald.
The medicinal package, mailed to his house with NZ Post was instructed to be left in a brown box by his front door. Photo / Supplied
Kahle, a resident of Aranui in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch said he’d had another bad experience with NZ Post when a delivery person tossed ordered protein powder over the fence a couple of years earlier.
“The dogs got into that, it was lucky they didn’t continue to eat the powder - that would have been very hard on their organs,” he said.
The most recent incident on Sunday felt like another blow to his pet’s safety. While Marshall’s vet got the substances out of him through induced vomiting, there are concerns for his long-term health.
“They told me to keep and eye on him to make sure he doesn’t have any neurological damage. So if he’s going toilet and losing balance or shaking, it shows signs of brain damage,” said Kahle.
“We don’t know yet if long-term damage has been done, it could have shortened our dog’s lifespan.”
When approached by NZME for comment, the logistics company said they “sincerely apologise to Cody”.
“This is not the service we pride ourselves on,” a spokesperson for the company said.
“We are actively investigating to understand what went wrong in this instance and can confirm that we intend to compensate Cody. We will be in touch with him directly.”
Despite the repeated examples of careless delivery work, the Aranui resident acknowledged how the job can be done well if delivery people take time to read instructions.
While Marshall’s vet got the substances out of him through induced vomiting, there are concerns for his long-term health. Photo / Supplied
“One of [the local delivery people] is really good, he’s known in the community as the friendly delivery guy.”
Kahle recounted the time this particular deliveryman, whom he said also works for NZ Post, called his cellphone to clarify instructions as they weren’t clear on the parcel.
“He ended up waiting for me to get home and he handed the parcel to me, he also apologised for the person who threw the protein over the fence,” said Kahle.
“It shows the difference between a person caring and not caring.”
Kahle took to social media to complain about the medication fracas, the responses he received were largely supportive - although some accused the owner of failing to stop his dog from eating the package in the first place.
“I told them what’s easier, to train an American bulldog that’s hungry not to eat substances thrown onto our property when we’re not home, or train a human being to follow simple written instructions - which is part of their job description and they signed a contract to do.”
