Following the unfortunate loss of a puppy, Pets At Home has withdrawn three dog leads from the UK market.
Little Archie was beloved by both his owners ( Joanne McPoland and Ed Hughes)
After a puppy ran away and was killed by a van, Pets At Home has removed three dog leads from store shelves across the UK.
Archie, a Beagle-Harrier, was being walked while wearing a harness attached to a KONG lead when it unexpectedly snapped open, allowing Archie to step in front of the van.
According to Belfast Live, the sad dog was killed on the spot, leaving his family distraught and questioning Pets At Home, the company that sold the lead.
His parents, Belfast's Joanne McPoland and Ed Hughes, had purchased the lead just 48 hours before, certain that the KONG brand would not let them down as they proceeded to teach one-year-old Archie.
After their #Action4Archie campaign triggered a Europe-wide recall of the one they bought and two others, Joanne and Ed are pushing the public to check their own dog leads.
The pair wants Pets At Home to issue an official product recall notice, which can only happen if Mission Pets, a US company, issues one.
Archie was literally my small son, said Ed, 39, of Dunmurry, who was walking Archie at the time of the traffic tragedy. That's exactly how I'm feeling. He was my little man, my first dog, and the best thing to walk into our home, even if I don't have any children of my own.
The couple alerted Pets At Home about the mishap, and the firm had every KONG Rope Dog Lead withdrawn from sale in all stores within hours.
Joanne and I adored him, and we used to joke that it would be a toss-up between us and the dog if we had to choose. Now that he's gone, our house feels deserted. Our hearts are shattered.
Last Saturday, Joanne purchased the KONG-branded lead from Pets At Home.
The clip snapped on a stroll on Sunday, unleashing Archie, but the pair was able to catch him in a driveway and reattach the lead.
The carabiner clasp popped open again the next day while on another walk, but this time Archie stepped into the road before Ed could bring him to safety, and the dog was hit by a van. Archie died by the side of the road.
We examined the lead well before our Monday stroll because it had suddenly opened the day before and seemed to be working properly, Ed explained.
We had faith in the KONG brand, and we had faith in Pets At Home to sell only guaranteed safe leads. However, we now know that there are no assurances.
To see Archie go from being full of life to death in a matter of seconds has been a complete nightmare." I saw everything happen, I heard the ruckus, and I'm replaying it in my head. It's torturous for me.
I'm remorseful that he died when I was with him. We bought the lead, and Joanne feels bad about it.
We're devastated and outraged, and we want to warn other dog families not to make the same mistake we did by assuming that a trusted brand purchased in good faith from a trusted retailer cannot fail when you need it most.
When the pair told Pets At Home what had happened while using the KONG Rope Dog Lead, they were first granted a £18.99 refund.
They were distraught and came to BelfastLive for assistance.
We were ill with shock, we needed to explain what had happened, and we wanted to know how Archie could be dead when we'd spent his entire life making sure he was secure, safe, and looked after, Joanne said.
With the assistance, we were able to contact KONG and then Mission Pets, the lead producer in the United States.
Thank goodness they listened to us, they acted promptly, and sales of the leads with this particular carabiner clasp were immediately halted, and they were withdrawn from all Pets At Home locations with immediate effect.
The three corporations have now requested that our lead do testing on it in order to verify that whatever occurred does not occur again. It'll be sent to Mission Pets for thorough examination.
Unfortunately, it's too late for our little guy. We're heartbroken and heartbroken to have lost Archie in this way. He was such a good boy, the heart of our family, and we were just getting started on what we hoped would be a long and healthy life for him. He was barely a week old when he turned one. Now that he's passed away, all we have are his ashes in a cask.
We would have him at our side, safe and happy, if we hadn't utilized that lead, if that clip hadn't failed. Instead, sadness has engulfed our home.
It was also a nightmare for the driver, who was in tears and deserves our deepest sympathies. We hope he's doing well. The sole saving grace is that Ed avoided being killed by a car because he instinctively stepped out to save Archie.
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