Sticks injure 1.4 million dogs – Direct Line Pet Insurance

Some 1.4 million dogs across the UK have been injured by a stick, reveals new research by Direct Line Pet Insurance, which urges dog owners to use a safe, specially designed eco-friendly throw toy instead.

Injuries caused by sticks are varied - dogs can be impaled if they run onto a stick that has lodged in the ground or suffer painful injuries if they bite a stick and it splinters into their mouth, says Direct Line. As well as being distressing and dangerous for dogs, this can be costly for owners too – the average pet insurance claim for a stick-related injury to a dog is £795.

More than 36 percent of dog owners, 4.9 million, play fetch with their dog using sticks found on the ground rather than a specially designed dog toy made from a safe material such as natural rubber or rope. Pet insurers process a claim every 30 minutes from a dog owner whose pet has been injured by a stick. More than 690,000 injuries have been caused to dogs when playing fetch with a stick

Direct Line Pet Insurance hosted the first ever ‘Stick Amnesty’ on 16 October 2019 on Putney Lower Common. Dog owners playing fetch with their animals were invited to swap a stick for a safe, specially designed eco-friendly throw toy from an elegant ‘dog toy tree’ sculpture designed by the sculptor Sophie Marsham. The amnesty highlights that by making simple changes to the most traditional of pet games, the health of thousands of animals can be protected.

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