
Have you ever seen those hilarious Youtube videos of dogs (and other pets) with their head stuck inside a snack food bag, bumping into things, while their owners look on, laughing and filming the event?
Those videos might not seem quite so funny if you knew that pets are suffocating and dying from this very act, and it’s no laughing matter.
Take, for instance, the story of Blue (pictured below, top far left). After pulling an empty Cheetos bag out of the trash and putting his head inside to gobble up the crumbs, Blue was unable to breathe when the bag created a vacuum-like seal around his neck. Panicked and unable to see or breathe, Blue stumbled upstairs, knocking over tables and lamps, and he collapsed on the floor after losing his bowels.
This is how his mom, Bonnie, found him. But it was too late. Blue was gone.
Now you might be tempted to believe this is a single tragedy, an isolated event. But a Facebook page called Prevent Pet Suffocation would prove you wrong. Take a quick glance at this page and you’ll see that this kind of thing is happening quite often. Just look at these precious faces, all lost to suffocation accidents involving everyday items like potato chip bags.

Each of these dogs was beautiful and special, and each had a unique story. But the one thing they have in common is that they died due to suffocation by a snack food bag, pet food bag, cereal box, even a crouton bag.
Blue’s mom, Bonnie, has created a petition asking Frito Lay, the maker of the Cheetos that were in the bag that killed Blue, to put a warning label on its products. Personally, I don’t understand why it would take a petition to convince Frito Lay to do this, but according to Bonnie, all the company has agreed to do is take Bonnie’s request “under advisement”.
It seems to me it would be a simple enough thing to do, to add a few words of caution to the packaging, to make people aware of the suffocation dangers an empty bag poses not just to pets, but to children as well, but apparently Frito Lay needs a little bit of convincing.
Please consider signing the petition.
In the meantime, until Frito Lay and other brands do the responsible thing and make consumers aware of the suffocation potential of its packaging, it’s important for us to spread the word to other pet owners. It’s also imperative to exercise a bit of caution to keep our pets safe. Here are just a few tips:
- Never leave your pet unattended. It’s simple – most dogs have the intelligence level of a 2 or 3 year old child. Would you leave a toddler unattended for more than a minute or so? Of course not. So why are you leaving your pets unsupervised?
- Use a covered trash bin. It’s important to make sure your pets can’t access your household garbage, even if there aren’t empty snack food bags in it. A covered trash receptacle will prevent your pet from getting inside and eating something harmful to her, and at the very least, it will help prevent the mess that will surely result if your pets gets into the garbage.
- Don’t leave packaging – empty or not – lying around where your pet can get to it. If you’re finished snacking on those cookies, put the package away. Don’t leave it out on a table or sofa even for a few minutes. The result could be tragic.
- Store bags of pet food and treats in a secure area away from your pet. A bag of dog food sitting on the kitchen floor is a temptation for your pet. Put it away where she can’t get to it.
- Cut packaging into pieces so that it poses less of a danger to your pet. Check out the photo below for an example of what I mean. No way is your dog going to get her head stuck in this.

There are many other precautions you can take to prevent your pets from injuring themselves in a senseless accident like this. Please leave a comment and share your ideas!
Also, please use the sharing buttons below to spread the word. Help me make pet owners aware of these potential dangers of suffocation, and let’s prevent this from happening to another beloved animal.
I met a vet tech in Northern California who came to say hello to Brychwyn then sobbed and told me about her corgi suffocating on a chip bag. She thought it was because of his short legs and not being able to get the bag off of his snout. But this is a great post to raise awareness about a non-breed specific safety problem for our pets.
This is an excellent article highlighting the suffocation risks our pets face from chip bags and other packaging! Spreading public awareness is the key to preventing other dogs from needlessly dying! With help from great writers and pet lovers like Christina Berry, we can get the word out. Please consider signing the petition to Frito Lay!
Thank you for this post! I would be devastated if this happen to my Roxy! Looking at those Pup’s pics made me sad! I think I’m pretty good about putting stuff away (mild OCD), but now I’m going to be even more on top of it! I’ll pass the word along…
Please help stop the death of animals because of their heads getting stuck in the sacks.
In memory of the dog, Geoffrey who died like this 6 days ago.
Don’t be so careless! Watch what you leave around to tempt your dog!
I put chips into a container now and cut the bag from top to bottom then put it in the outside covered trash can.
Thanks for the info.I’ve posted it on my fb page and signed the petition.Weird things happen,I once lost a pup to a self-closing frig,it crushed her temples and she died immediately.SO SAD for all the lost dogs.hope we make a difference!
Great article and thank you helping raise aware about this risk to our pets. Accidents do happen and the more we raise aware to more deaths we can prevent! Visit Preventpetsuffocation.com.
I had not realized there are so many deaths of pets due to snack bags, oh my! I am nuts about not leaving things around for my dog to get into. In fact, my current roommate and I go at it over this subject all the time. My thought is basically that I treat it as I did when my son was a small child, hiding everything from a dog’s paws just like I did his fingers!
You are absolutely right, Ruth. We have to treat our pets exactly as we’d treat a toddler. They can be very determined when they want something bad enough, so we have to be sure that all harmful things are out of their reach.
I never thought of this. We cut apart those plastic things on 6-packs of soda. Now even though we have a closed garbage can, we’re gonna cut these up as well.