Feature Stories
Bone of Contention
by Kirt Ramirez
A Lakewood Village resident wants the public to know about what happened to her dog after eating a “Real Ham Bone” treat made by Dynamic Pet Products, Inc.
Donna Rohrich, 57, said her 10-year-old American Cocker spaniel, Baily, became so sick after chewing on the bone that she required emergency medical care to stay alive. Baily had no prior health problems and the bone did not splinter — but rather — fragmented into bits and pieces, Rohrich said.
The bone was purchased from Sprouts in Seal Beach and can be found in other stores including Wal-Mart and Dollar General.
Baily ate the bone Saturday afternoon, Oct. 18, 2008.
“She chewed on the bone and she was able to chew both the knuckles off,” Rohrich told an insurance field investigator affiliated with the product maker during a recent tape-recorded interview. “And upon seeing that, I immediately pulled the center piece that was still left, away from her and we went about our normal daily chores.”
Then later that evening — at around 9 p.m. — Baily needed to “go out” to relieve herself but was constipated, Rohrich explained.
“She had trouble having a bowel movement, drank water, and threw up eight to nine times that night,” Rohrich said on tape. “In her vomit were bone fragments, lots of bone fragments.”
Baily’s stomach was distended on one side and she was panting profusely, Rohrich added. “She was in pain.”
Early the next morning — Sunday — Rohrich and her boyfriend Richard brought Baily to VCA Lakewood Animal Hospital for an emergency exam.
“I told the doctor what happened and they put her on IV because she was extremely dehydrated, and the rest is history,” Rohrich said. “The vet said they were able to see fragments in her digestive tract.”
Baily stayed in the hospital nearly four days with two IVs — one in each foreleg — and vet costs totaled over $3,000.
“The vet wanted me to find out what was in the bone — what the ingredients were,” Rohrich said. “I did not have the wrapper, it was in the trash.”
Rohrich tried to find out the bone’s ingredients online but instead found a Web page warning consumers about Dynamic Pet’s Real Ham Bone — a site not maintained by the product maker — but by an individual with a story similar to Rohrich’s — but with one twist — her dog died.
The site, www.dynamicpetproducts.com warns “all dog lovers out there to be very careful about the dog treats that you give your dogs” and that “Real Ham Bone” by Dynamic Pet Products “killed my dog.”
A photo of the dog and bone appear on the Web page.
“Trace, my dog, enjoyed chewing on this bone. It did not splinter or anything; in fact there is quite a large piece of it still left. Then in the evening she started vomiting. She spent the next day at a veterinarian’s office where she was diagnosed with a blockage of the colon,” the site said.
Despite a four-hour surgery “where the vet picked out small round pellets of the bone, up to the size of about a B-B” and another surgery the following evening “because the blockage had caused poison in her body,” Trace died at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 19, 2008 after eating the bone on Sept. 16.
The site maker, Denise Jurgens, 46, of Tampa Florida, told the Beachcomber by phone that she is still coping with the loss of her five-and-a-half year old mixed Beagle Foxhound and had to take on extra work to cover the medical bills — totaling $14,330.26.
“The whole thing has been totally upsetting,” she said.
Jurgens said the vet likened Trace’s clogged colon to “sand down the hour glass.” She added, “They weren’t splinters at all, they were itty bitty round pieces.”
Jurgens bought her bone at Wal Mart.
Since Jurgens put up her Web-warning, she said she has received a “ton” of e-mails from well-wishers and pet owners — a number of whom also blame Real Ham Bone for their dogs’ sudden death or illness after eating the product.
Even Dynamic Pet Products contacted Jurgens after spotting her Weg page — to inquire about it. While Jurgens’ site is Dynamicpetproducts.com, the bone maker’s official site is Dynamicpet.net.
In an e-mail to Jurgens sent Sept. 30, 2008, Sara Mades, director of plant services for Dynamic Pet, wrote: “We are extremely sorry to hear that your dog became ill and passed after eating our Real Ham Bone. We would like to discuss this with you and come to an agreement on your vet bills.”
However, in a letter dated Feb. 25, 2009, America First Insurance Liability Specialist Javona White “found no liability on the part of our insured” and denied Jurgens’ claim for damages.
Both Mades and White would not speak with the Beachcomber. But a spokesman for White spoke only to say he couldn’t speak about it.
Meanwhile, blogs and Internet postings can be found complaining about the bone and alleged subsequent vet bills.
On Jan. 5, Richard of a “dogblog.dogster” forum posted: “I gave my 15-year-old Choco/Lab a Ham Bone on Christmas night. He ate it … died Jan. 3, 2009.” X-rays showed the dog had intestinal blockage. Despite vet care, it died of complications, Richard wrote.
Various complaints appear on the blog accessible by typing exactly: http://dogblog.dogster.com/
2008/09/30/potenial-real-ham-bone-danger/.
On an ASPCA online community, Christina Ann Newman wrote that she gave all three of her dogs a Real Ham Bone and all got diarrhea. But one went into a coma and had to be put to sleep due to a poor prognosis.
“He had a blockage and all organs including his brain were infected with bacteria,” Newman wrote.
Newman wrote that she contacted Mades after the dog died to request the product be pulled and tested, and that she be reimbursed for her medical costs. After sending in the medical records and an autopsy report faulting the eaten bone, the insurance company denied the claim, Newman wrote.
“Can you believe it? I just asked that they pay the medical bills and nothing more ($3,500) and they can’t even do that,” Newman wrote. “I know there has to be more than just our dogs who died from their product.”
However, other consumers are happy with the Real Ham Bone. “I have a German Shepherd who eats this exact bone all the time and absolutely loves it and has no problems at all,” wrote S. Stone on the “dogblog.dogster” site on Jan. 29.
And Tammy wrote on March 25: “I have bought plenty of these bones. I have a rottie and he eats one a day for past year and has never had any problems with them.”
Meanwhile, of the e-mails Jurgens received to her own site, she counted five dogs dead and 10 injured. Most of the incidents occurred since Sept. 2008, she added.
The Beachcomber obtained from Jurgens many of those time-stamped e-mails from people across the country alleging Real Ham Bone killed or injured their dogs. The words “vomiting” and “blockage” appear commonly in the e-mails.
And one e-mail indicates Mades sent a “settlement paper” directly to someone after losing a dog — to settle a small bill. “We did get a check from Dynamic. They seemed anxious to get ours finished. In our settlement we agreed to not disclose the terms or to have further claims,” the source wrote.
Meanwhile, the Real Ham Bone label states it is “100 percent food grade ingredients.” Dynamic Pet did not respond to the Beachcomber’s e-mails or calls asking what that meant or to any of the communications which began being placed Jan. 22.
The label goes on to say it is “not for human consumption,” is “real hickory smoked,” and “recommended for use in non-stain areas.”
However, in much smaller print, the label reads:
“Monitor your pet while consuming any natural bone product. Remove bone if splintering occurs. Recommended size is slightly larger than your pet’s mouth. Always provide a fresh supply of water to pet. Best if eaten over several sittings. Not recommended for dogs with digestive problems.”
In the meantime, Rohrich said with a gleam in her eye: “I’m just waiting for my rejection letter.”
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