Pet owner’s grim warning about $32 Kmart dog crates after her Cavoodle called Marley was IMPALED on a loose metal wire while trying to escape
- Cavoodle pup Marley was mauled by a cheap Kmart crate in New South Wales
- ‘Traumatised’ owner Lara Robertson demands Kmart stop selling the crates
- Owner had to snap the bar to remove it from Murphy’s mouth as he screamed
A ‘traumatised’ pet owner whose dog was horrifically injured by a Kmart crate has demanded the company stop selling them.
Lara Robertson woke up to the anguished whelps of her Cavoodle at 11.30pm Monday night in her Lake Macquarie home in New South Wales.
She walked out to find two-year-old Marley with a crate bar impaled through his mouth, and had to spend ten minutes removing the bar as her pup ‘screamed’.
Two-year-old Cavoodle Marley (pictured) was ‘screaming’ after he was impaled by a Kmart crate
Lara Robertson (left) said her dog tried to escape his crate to follow her husband Andy (right)
Murphy (pictured) has been injured by the crate bar, and his owner Lara said he is ‘traumatised’ by the horrific incident
Lara Robertson said she spent ten minutes trying to remove the crate bar (pictured) from the mouth of her beloved pet dog Murphy
‘[Last] night my husband went to work and my cavoodle tried to get out of the cage,’ Mrs Robertson said.
‘He put his snout through to open the lock, and from the welding point on the cage the bar went straight through his mouth.’
Mrs Robertson had said she had to break the bar apart in order to remove it from her dog’s mouth.
She believes he will now suffer from ‘increased anxiety’ and will never be able to sleep alone again.
‘He’s the most beautiful dog in the world, intelligent and loyal. I just can’t believe this had happened,’ said Mrs Robertson.
‘[M]y dog and myself will never be the same again.’
Central Coast pet owner Jacqueline said she bought a Kmart pet crate 18 months ago and it started falling apart after six months.
Jacqueline, who purchased the crate for her dog Frankie to stop her from chewing ‘everything and anything’ at night time, said the crate has ‘gone rusty’.
‘[They] are quite flimsy but I guess you get what you pay for,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
When she brought another family pet into the home four months ago, she purchased another Kmart crate and clipped them together to make one large one.
The medium-sized Kmart crate (pictured) sells for $32, and has a 4.5 star customer review
Another pet owner has bought two folding Kmart crates for her dachshunds Frankie and Leo (pictured), and said after about six months the first crate she bought started to fall apart
Mrs Robertson wants Kmart to stop selling the medium-sized pet folding crate, which costs $32 online.
The product has a 4.5 star rating on Kmart’s website. Kmart also sells a similar extra large metal crate for bigger dogs.
Animal trainer Anniina Raisanen warned that while crate training is a good way to help prevent pets behaving badly, they must be trained slowly to prevent injuries.
Animal trainer Anniina Raisanen (pictured with Sansa) said pups must be trained to use a crate
Ms Raisanen said crates can be unsafe for anxious dogs as they may harm themselves while trying to escape.
‘When you do crate training correctly the dog actually learns to be calm, and they learn to love it,’ she said.
The dog expert also said pets shouldn’t be left in the crate for more than a few hours, unless they are sleeping overnight.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Kmart for comment.