Toxic Dog Toys: Not Just From China

Here’s an alert from the not-for-profit Washington Toxics Coalition.  After testing 400 dog toy products with a metal analyzer, they found lead,  arsenic, cadmium, and mercury toxins in toys designed to be chewed, tugged and carried in the mouth.  Half of the pet collars tested positive for lead, and 25% of those were beyond the level of safety advised for children’s toys.

Tennis balls made for pets?  Forget it. Half of the tennis balls tested had lead. So we are supposed to guess which are safe? Just buy the more expensive but non-toxic type made for playing tennis.

And if you’re like me, thinking any toys made for dogs in the US were safe(provided you could find them), well, you and I need to think again.  According to the report, “Whether it’s made in China or not doesn’t matter,” said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal with the coalition. “We found it [toxics] in both American and foreign-made products.”

With our quaint notions of safety in US made dog products put to rest, what are we supposed to do?  The Washington Toxics Coalition suggests we avoid any soft plastic, vinyl, brightly painted, rhinestone, charm or trinket item as likely to contain one or more of these toxics.

Sounds like some manufacturers took the little girl charm bracelets and rhinestone jewelry banned from toys awhile back and re-fashioned them for resale as pet items, doesn’t it?

See report by Seattle’s Denise Whitaker of Komo News. Check Healthy Stuff for specific product information using their search tool.

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