A dog owner was left heartbroken after a game of fetch killed her beloved service dog when he choked to death on a tennis ball.
She has now issued an urgent warning for anyone with playful pets, stressing that the all-too-common toy can be dangerous and even fatal.
Emma Meen was devastated when a friend walking the pooch called to tell her that Toby, a fox red Labrador, had collapsed after swallowing the ball earlier this month.
The mother-of-three, 47, from Cambridge made desperate attempts to save her precious pup as she performed CPR for 20 minutes, but it was too late.
The grieving parent, who suffers from inflammatory arthritis, relied on Toby to help her with tasks she finds challenging – including picking things up off the floor and emptying the washing machine – and has now binned all tennis balls.
Emma Meen was devastated when a friend walking the pooch called to tell her that Toby, a Fox Red Labrador, had collapsed after swallowing the toy earlier this month
‘She threw the tennis balls like she always does, because they love chasing tennis balls,’ Emma explained, recalling the tragic event.
‘He had one in his mouth. She threw another one, he went to get it and pushed the one that was in his mouth down his throat.
‘He was running around in a panic, he finally collapsed and she managed to get the ball out of his throat.’
The pet owner revealed she initially thought her friend was ‘joking’ when she got the phone call.
‘It sounds stupid, but she said he was down, and I thought she meant he was lying down,’ Emma admitted.
‘Then when she said she’d got the tennis ball out, I panicked. All the way over there, I was shouting, “not Toby, not Toby”.’
When she found him lying on the floor, Emma started CPR and called her vet, who said to ‘just keep going’.
‘I was doing CPR on him and watching him go as I was doing it,’ she recounted. ‘It was so hard; 20 minutes later, there were still no signs of life.’
The grieving parent, who suffers from inflammatory arthritis, relied on Toby to help her with tasks she finds challenging
The mother-of-three, 47, from Cambridge made desperate attempts to save her precious pup as she performed CPR for 20 minutes, but it was too late
Emma has thrown away all tennis balls. Now she wants to raise awareness about the potential choking hazards of dog toys
Praising his loving nature, the grieving owner called him ‘the best dog she ever had’. The family is still dealing with the loss
Toby would help Emma pick things up off the floor and even assisted with emptying the washing machine and taking clothes to the tumble dryer
Now the mother – who also has a 16-year-old boxer-staffie cross called Cleo and a nine-year-old collie-terrier cross called Bosh – wants to raise awareness about the potential choking hazards.
‘We’ve chucked all of our tennis balls out now,’ she said.
‘I see posts on Facebook where people are like “oh, we’re out with the ball today”, and I’m just thinking, “no, don’t do it”.
‘Balls with holes in the middle prevent them from choking, they have quite big holes in them so they can breathe still.
‘Make sure it’s something that they can breathe if they swallow it. Rope toys get all knotted – they inhale the knot and they can’t breathe.
‘I want people to know the dangers of balls. If we’d have known, it wouldn’t have happened and he would still be here.’
Emma also has a nine-year-old collie-terrier cross called Bosh (pictured right, alongside the late Toby)
Toby and Bosh pictured with a tennis ball. Emma says that if they used a safer option, Toby would still be alive
Emma took Toby to the crematorium before scattering his ashes in the garden where he ‘liked to play’
Emma has binned all tennis balls and stresses that balls with holes in the middle are a better alternative
The dog owner felt like her ‘whole world had come to an end’ when she realised it was too late.
‘He was so good with me and so hardworking,’ she said. ‘He was like a child.’
Toby would help Emma pick things up off the floor and even assisted with emptying the washing machine and taking clothes to the tumble dryer.
Praising his loving nature, the grieving owner called him ‘the best dog she ever had’.
Emma took him to the crematorium before scattering his ashes in the garden where he ‘liked to play’.
‘The other dogs have been up there and they’ve had a sniff around the area. I think they still recognise his scent,’ she continued.
The family is still dealing with the loss of their Toby.
‘We look at the windows where he used to look out, and he’s not there,’ Emma admitted.
‘We changed the bedding and it’s like, “this is the last time he slept on the bed”.
‘Even down to eating a bit of cheese, it’s like, “this is the last thing he ate before he died”.’
