Family’s horror at finding their beloved puppy HANGED by her own collar in terrifying ‘freak accident’
Five-month-old Cockapoo Missie was discovered dead less than a quarter of an hour after she was left alone when she strangled herself
A HEARTBROKEN family have revealed their devastation after finding their beloved puppy HANGED in a suspected freak accident with her collar.
Five-month-old Cockapoo Missie was discovered dead less than a quarter of an hour after she was left alone when she strangled herself after her collar got caught on a kitchen cabinet.
Traumatised owner Donna Smith, 37, from Falkirk, said she will never leave collars on her pets while they are unsupervised again following the tragic accident.
And she’s described the horrific moment the beloved pet was found.
She said: “Missie had been out of the cage playing in the kitchen.
“She had pulled a tea towel down onto the floor because she loved playing with it, so my mum had left it hooked over the kitchen cabinet door.
“Mum left the house at 12.20pm to take her grandson to nursery. When she got home at 12.45pm she wondered what Missie was up to because she didn’t come running over to the safety gate in the kitchen, and that was when she saw her hung on the door handle by her collar.
“Her feet weren’t touching the ground and she had strangled herself to death.
“The tea towel was on the floor, Missie had obviously jumped up for it but managed to get herself caught coming back down and hooked her collar over the cabinet handle.
“My mum was just hysterical and when she called me I couldn’t understand what had happened. I just didn’t believe it – I kept asking ‘how can Missie be dead?’
“We rushed her to the vets but there was nothing they could do, she was already dead. It was a tragic accident and we can’t blame ourselves, there is nothing we could have done.
“The vets don’t know how long she was struggling for, but they think it happened pretty much straight after my mum left.
“It is so hard knowing she was scared and in pain. We are all completely heartbroken – my dad is devastated and my mum is blaming herself.
“I will never leave collars on my pets while I am out of the house again, we want people to make aware they should take the collars off their dogs if they are leaving them alone.”
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Donna and her parents, who do not wish to be named, adopted Missie in December last year after much-loved family golden retriever Shelley died aged 17.
The couple, who are both aged 63 and have three grandchildren, are experienced dog owners and Donna said they have had pets since she was a tot.
They had purchased the ordinary woven fabric collar from a local pet shop for £10 and Missie had been wearing it ever since they bought her.
Donna said: “Missie had never been any trouble before, there had been no issues at all. She was just a happy, playful normal puppy.
“My mum is blaming herself for not putting Missie in her cage. But the same thing could have happened even if mum had been in the bathroom or hanging the washing out outside.
“She had been allowed to run about the kitchen a million times before, it is just normal.
“They are just normal cupboard door handles a lot of people would have in their kitchen.
“She had been wearing that collar ever since we got her and there had never been any issues. It wasn’t too tight, because you could still get your hand under it.
“Mum said she knew she was gone as soon as she lifted her off the door handle. There were no signs of life. Having to lift Missie off the door handle has stayed with her – it is awful.
“I don’t know if we could have done anything differently. I don’t know why it happened.
“I have been brought up with dogs since I was three years old, my mum and dad never did anything differently with Missie to what they have done with any other dog.
“It is just a tragic accident, no one could have predicted what happened.”
A spokesman for Champion Vets Grangemouth said: “This was just a tragic freak accident and Missie’s owners are absolutely devastated – it is completely heartbreaking.
“This is the first time anything like that has happened to an animal registered with this practice.
“There is nothing which could have been done to stop what happened, apart from if Missie had never had a collar on.
“We are not saying do not use collars at all, but when dogs are unsupervised collars should be removed or quick release collars should be used.
“Owners need to be aware this is something that can happen as we want to prevent this happening to any other pets in future.”
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