Beware pets and paper shredders

I am forwarding this tragedy to warn others.
Sometimes accidents happen that we could never have imagined in our homes. We try to think of everything and keep our beloved animals as safe as possible, but then the unthinkable happens. It is hard to keep moving on when the worst befalls us. However, sharing the incident with others to save other dogs from a similar fate is an incredibly generous thing to do. I just read a story from a reader that all dog lovers should be aware of and they should take action that the same fate doesn't befall their beloved dog.

Ellen Lutz of Aquebogue, New York tells the story of a beautiful yellow Labrador she and her family brought home this summer. They named him Rhumbline's Strike the Rate, "Striker", for short and imagined a life of happy possibilities for him. It had been 15 years since they had brought a puppy into their lives, but they were excited and prepared for the challenges.

Striker was a typical puppy and although they had long since forgotten how much energy a 7 week-old puppy takes, their memory was quickly refreshed. Still, Ellen says they endured and loved every moment of watching him grow up. She was sure that when all that puppy energy was finally used up that the little guy was going to be the perfect dog for their home.

Sadly, Striker never got to fulfill this potential of the perfect dog. Five months later, full of puppy verve and curiosity he licked the automatic paper shredder in the home office. He died of the injuries he received.

Ellen says that they were horrified and stunned by his passing in this particularly terrible way. She and her family mourn him deeply, but felt the best thing they could do to honor him was to become proactive about educating everyone on this potential household menace. They have already networked and shared their story with many individuals and distributed a tremendous number of flyers in New York and New Jersey. The flyers have made their way into veterinary offices and pet shops where many people have read them and gone home to unplug their shredders. The best means of disseminating information is through word of mouth and hopefully, these people are telling their friends and the word will keep being passed along.

Ellen believes with all her heart that Striker's story has already saved some other dog from a similar fate and that dog's family from a horrible heartbreak. She would love it if you would share her story and save as many dogs as possible. So spread the word for Striker!

Until next time...

Dr. Jon

Good Lord- ... This goes with puppy proofing your home. Many things can be dangerious for pups- and look at your house as you would a toddler..

Paper shredders can be nasty with either pets or kids.

My shredder has several safety features to prevent accidents like that from happening. I still don't trust the kittens around it because they are more curious and get into many more things than the older cats do. I normally keep the door to the room with the shredder in it closed unless I'm in that room.

We don't even own a paper shredder thank the Lord

:(

I have read this and other related stories on paper shredders. They always make me sad, especially the ones involving children. Most of these shredder mishaps just do not have to happen. Common sense tell us we should always turn off the shredder and unplug it, when we have children or pets around. But we are only human and we forget. We should keep the shredder in a location not so frequented by pets and children. As one person said above there are also shredder safety features that people can get for their shredder so that it automatically shuts off when a hand, finger or paw gets near the shredder opening. Features can help us even when we are being human and forget.