His dog suffocated in a chip bag, and he wants to prevent other pet deaths

Alex Guye · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 14, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

When Ian Reid near an unfastened spot bag on his TV stand, he didn't expect to instrumentality location to find his beloved dog Mingus dead, with the container astir vacuum-sealed to his muzzle.

The canine was recovered down a seat with the spot container up implicit his neck, tightly clinging to his face.

"He was motionless and cold," Reid said. 

The incident was devastating to the retired surgeon successful Indian Harbour, N.S., and near him with profound feelings of guilt. 

When Reid took Mingus to his regular veterinarian clinic to beryllium cremated, the vets were shocked astatine however the canine died. 

"None of the vets were alert of the lethal hazard that the bags present," helium said.

Reid says residual nutrient near successful the spot container was enough of an enticement for the canine to enactment his nose heavy successful the bag. By the clip a canine has breathed successful each the oxygen, they can't get the container disconnected their head.

Reid wants different canine owners to beryllium alert of the hazard of nutrient packaging. 

"These [deaths] are preventable. And it's tragic and it's abrupt and melodramatic and a unspeakable happening arsenic a favored proprietor and unspeakable happening for a favored to spell done it," helium said. 

Bonnie Harlan experienced thing precise similar just earlier Christmas successful 2011. 

Harlan came location to find her rescue dog, Blue, dead with nutrient packaging suctioned astir his face. It was truthful tight, she couldn't propulsion it disconnected connected her own.

She past called her vet, who explained however to bash canine CPR earlier helium rushed implicit to her home, but it was excessively late. 

"It lone takes 3 to 5 minutes, truthful you don't person a batch of clip erstwhile that happens."

This prompted her to recovered the non-profit, Prevent Pet Suffocation. In the years since Blue's death, she's recovered galore vets inactive don't cognize astir the hazard of food packaging.

Harlan lives successful Texas but says she receives thousands of messages from radical astir the satellite each year. 

"That's the thing. This is international. There's nutrient bags everywhere." 

Maggie Brown-Bury is simply a tiny carnal veterinarian who works successful Newfoundland and Labrador and sits connected the enforcement assembly of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.

She said she hasn't experienced immoderate favored deaths successful transportation to spot bags, but she said if you hunt for spot bags successful the association's online network, you bash get rather a fewer hits. 

"It is 1 of the benignant of much communal accidental tragedies we volition see."

Although spot container hazard isn't straight addressed successful vet schools, Brown-Bury says it is talked astir successful a much wide way.

"The contented of spot bags of people is the suffocation and deficiency of oxygen and that is thing we interaction connected specifically, conscionable not needfully going done each the imaginable ways it could happen."

Her sentiments were echoed by Marti Hopson, a veterinarian and lecturer astatine the Atlantic Veterinarian College connected P.E.I.

Hopson says astatine vet colleges, aboriginal vets larn however to speech to their clients astir hazards successful wide and archer clients that surviving with a favored is similar surviving with a toddler: Anything you spot successful your situation could beryllium a hazard to them.

"I deliberation that the mode to bash that mightiness beryllium done nationalist campaigns similar the Preventing Pets from Suffocation run that's happening connected societal media and that does instrumentality a agelong clip to spread."

Goal to rise awareness

On Harlan's website, she lists ways radical tin support pets from this benignant of harm. One of them is to cut the nutrient packaging up truthful determination are nary closed pieces that could go sealed astir an animals face.

Reid and Harlan have reached retired to organizations similar Frito Lay, to inquire if they would enactment a informing connected their spot bags.

CBC News reached retired to Frito Lay, but they did not respond to the request for comment.

Reid hopes his communicative tin forestall different favored owners from going done what helium did.

"I deliberation that the cardinal happening is prevention and cognition and if this accusation tin beryllium made disposable done veterinarians, done connection of mouth, done wide favored proprietor cognition and done warnings connected these bags, that volition spell a agelong mode to forestall the hundreds of dogs successful peculiar that suffocate each year."