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Dog Treat Danger?; Olympics Update
Aired February 15, 2006 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Massachusetts for Neil Entwistle, the British subject accused of killing his American wife and infant daughter late last month. He was picked up in London last week, and put on a plane a couple of hours ago with U.S. marshals as traveling companion. Entwistle waived extradition, but his lawyer isn't saying how he'll plead when he gets into a Boston-area courtroom.
Remember, that big Chicago jailbreak over the weekend. Well, a guard says that the prisoners held him off with a makeshift knife as they got away. It now turns out that may be exactly what happened.
CNN's Miles O'Brien reports there's a new story coming out. And Chicago being Chicago, it's all about politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER BAKER, CANDIDATE, COOK CO. SHERIFF: I think there was some possible corruption involved in that. Yes, I believed that someone -- they had help.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: They are the six inmates who escaped from Chicago's Cook County Jail over the weekend. After a massive manhunt, they were all captured, but now a surprising new twist. A jail guard is joining them behind bars. Thirty-six-year-old Darren Gater charged with seven felony accounts. Apparently he admitted he helped the inmates escape.
But why did he do it? An official close to the case says Gater wanted to embarrass the current sheriff and help another candidate, his former supervisor at the jail, Richard Remus.
Remus says it doesn't make sense.
RICHARD REMUS, CANDIDATE, COOK CO. SHERIFF: Here he would sacrifice his family, his career and everything else to help Richard Remus? I just find that totally ludicrous.
O'BRIEN: But was Gater a lone wolf? Maybe not. Five other guards are now suspended while the investigation continues.
And there's another twist, the current sheriff's hand-picked candidate, Tom Dart, fending off charges they knew about the plot, but botched an attempt to thwart it. It's the latest in a series of mishaps at the jail. TOM DART, CANDIDATE, COOK CO. SHERIFF: Our office has aggressively tried to stamp out any problems here, and have told anybody and everybody about some of the problems. There's been nothing other than complete objectivity on our part.
O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Kids in cages. A scandalous headline from Ohio, now the subject of a criminal indictiment. Michael and Sharon Gravelle face 16 counts of felony child endangermanet for allegedly putting some of their 11 adopted special-needs children into cages. The couple denies wrongdoing, saying the cages were necessary to help keep the kids from hurting themselves. They face one to five years in a prison cell if convicted. In the meantime, they're trying to regain custody of those 11 kids.
Olympic action. We've got a wrap of today's events in Torino. Plus, where is Emily Hughes? An update on the young American skater who is replacing Michelle Kwan.
The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.
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PHILLIPS: In the hospital one day, speeding down the ski slopes the next. American Lindsey Kildow didn't win a medal today, much to her disappointment, but she did compete, severely bruised hips, sore back and all, just two days after her horrific crash on the same course.
Now the gold went to Austrian Mikala Dorfmeister (ph). I hope I'm saying that right. I'm trying to pronounce it. Just one month away from retirement. It's the one Olympic event that she had never won.
It hasn't been a medal-free day for U.S., though. Within the past hour, Toby Dawson fought his way to the bronze in the men's freestyle moguls. He's the one on the right there. One-fifth in the skiers in that final round were Americans. Among them, Jeremy Bloom. More on that multi-sport star Jeremy Bloom later on LIVE FROM.
Well, she found out Saturday she'll be skating in the Olympics. So where is Emily Hughes? At the moment, still in New York, bags packed for Torino. Set to arrive in Italy tomorrow after some last- minute spins on the New York Islanders practice rink.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: How'd the workout go today?
EMILY HUGHES, OLYMPIC FIGURESKATER: Oh, it went really well, really well today.
QUESTION: What type of stuff did you work on?
HUGHES: I was just trying to work on getting ready for the Olympics, you know, work on my programs.
QUESTION: How do you expect to do over there?
HUGHES: Well, I really just want to skate my best. I want ot just take in the whole Olympic experience, and you know, meet all of the other athletes. I'm really excited to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Expect to hear from hughes again Friday after she settles in at the Olympic Village. Hopefully able to fight that jet lag.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Burn drafting. Have you heard about it? Scott, you do it on your motorcycle, don't you? Well, they want to dump the bump actually. It's NASCAR jargon for a car bumping the car into the car in front of it to maintain its momentum. They want to get in on that draft. Nextel cup champ Tony Stewart complained about it after last weekend's Budweiser shootout in Florida. He said the practice needs to stop before somebody gets killed. For Sunday's Daytona 500, Nextel Cup officials will post spotter in the turns on the two-and-a-half mile track. They'll feed information to NASCAR, which will decide whether to penalize offending drivers.
Today he stands egg-shapped head and shoulders above the rest. See all the ruckus surrounding Rufus and his history-making moment.
Plus, dogs love them. Dog owners buy million of them a year, but are Greenies really safe? LIVE FROM investigates straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: P. Funk and his closest friends call him Puppyhead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Best in show at the 130th Annual Westminster Dog show is the colored bull terrier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Everyone else knows him as Rufus. For the first time, a colored bull terrier took the top prize at Westminster. Rufus has the style and personality of a champion, not to mention that perfect egg-shaped head.
Now we take a look at the gorgeously groomed wonders who came this close to greatness. Like Smokin', the high-maintenance English sheepdog. And Shaka, the smiling Rottweiler whose athletic physique mimicked that of her former linebacker/owner/handler. They get the vote for cutest couple. And who wasn't intrigued by Margot, the elegant Scottish Deerhound? This is the breed once famously dubbed "the most perfect creature." Dermot, the heavily favored pug, cringed at the touch of the best in the show judge. Did that moment land the press darling in the dog house?
Well, speaking of Darling, some say the beautiful golden retriever never had a chance. Too popular, they sniffed. And maybe Andy isn't a great name for the headlines.
Boomer the Dalmation has a fun name, and a perfect body, but somehow failed to excite the judge the way the crowd reacted.
LIVE FROM thanks all the dogs for a show well-done.
Rufus's victory probably doesn't mean bull terriers will be America's new best friends. Here are facts on America's dogs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: There are an estimated 73 million dogs owned in United States. Among those, we know at least 46 percent are mixed breed mutts. Only about one percent are registered purebreds that could be entered in the Westminster Dog Show. That means more than half of America's dogs are somewhere in the middle.
The most popular breeds may be what you would expect. Labrador retrievers are tops in the nations for 16 years running now. Golden retrievers are second, and Yorkshire terriers are third most popular. That's the Yorkie's highest ranking in history. And some analysts say the Yorkie could be the most popular breed in America soon. A Yorkie won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show in 1978.
While labs and golden retrievers may be the most popular dogs in America, neither breed has ever won the highest honor at the Westminster Dog Show.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: One of a dog owner's worst fear is giving your best pal something that could kill them.
CNN's Greg Hunter investigates the new controversy surrounding the most popular dog treat in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Tyson (ph), an 8-month-old boxer who, before Christmas, was happy, healthy and full of life. But not long after these pictures were taken, he suddenly died.
LEAH FALLS, DOG DIED: I kept waiting -- waiting for someone to say they had the wrong dog or -- you know, it was a shock.
HUNTER: The cause of Tyson's death was a mystery to his owners, Leah Falls and Josh Glass.
JOSH GLASS, DOG DIED: I couldn't imagine what it could have been.
HUNTER: Doctors couldn't either, until they discovered a severe blockage in his intestine.
DR. KEVIN SCHLANGER, BRENT-AIR ANIMAL HOSPITAL: It was very clear that it was something dense and firm that had caused an obstruction.
HUNTER: Here is the object Dr. Kevin Schlanger removed. It's a dog treat called a Greenie. It's the hottest selling dog treat on the market, shaped like a toothbrush, advertised as edible. It claims to clean dog's teeth. There are different sizes to match your dog's weight. And many dog owners seem to love them.
Just last year, Greenies sold 325 million treats worldwide, nearly tripling the sales of its nearest competitor, Milk-Bone. The credit goes to this man, Joe Roetheli of Kansas City, Missouri, the founder of S&M NuTec, the company that makes Greenies.
JOE ROETHELI, FOUNDER, S&M NUTEC: Dogs really love the product. They do a very effective job of cleaning teeth and freshening breath.
HUNTER (on camera): But, along with skyrocketing sales across the country, CNN has learned about dozens of cases where Greenies have caused life-threatening obstructions in dogs, raising safety questions.
(voice-over): Recently, in New York, Mike Eastwood and his wife, Jenny Reiff, filed a lawsuit, asking for $5 million in damages. They claim the product is defective and blame Greenies for the intestinal blockage that caused the slow, painful death of their dog, Burt (ph).
JENNY REIFF, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT: I miss him and think about him every single day.
MIKE EASTWOOD, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT: I'm mad that their packaging states that the product is 100 percent edible, highly digestible, veterinarian approved. Yet, our dog died from it.
HUNTER: The company won't comment on the case, but, in court papers, it denied the allegations.
(on camera): Is your product defective?
ROETHELI: Our product is safe. It is used every day by thousands of dogs, millions a week. And it is basically a very safe product.
HUNTER (voice-over): Still, local television and newspapers across the country have reported case after case of Greenies getting stuck in dog's throats or intestines, causing severe problems, including death.
(on camera): So, Greenies can cause a significant health risk to a dog?
DR. MICHAEL LEIB, PROFESSOR OF SMALL ANIMAL INTERNAL MEDICINE, VIRGINIA TECH'S VIRGINIA-MARYLAND REGIONAL COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE: Absolutely.
HUNTER (voice-over): Dr. Michael Leib is a Virginia Tech professor and veterinarian gastroenterologist. He showed us the problem on videotape of a 2004 surgery he performed.
LEIB: We're looking inside the esophagus now, about halfway towards the stomach.
HUNTER: Dr. Leib says this is a piece of Greenie stuck deep inside a dog's throat. After two days, he says, it was still solid. Even though the surgery was difficult, he successfully removed it.
(on camera): You saved the dog.
LEIB: In this case, we did.
DR. BRENDAN MCKIERNAN, WHEAT RIDGE VETERINARY SPECIALISTS: That's a pup.
HUNTER: Dr. Brendan McKiernan is a Denver veterinarian.
MCKIERNAN: This is a dog who came into us.
HUNTER: In little more than two years, his clinic has seen at least seven dogs with solid pieces of Greenies stuck inside them. Those cases prompted McKiernan to start studying obstructions from treats like Greenies. He says, his research shows, compressed vegetable chew treats, like Greenies, are now the third biggest cause of throat obstructions in dogs, behinds bones and fish hooks.
MCKIERNAN: They don't break down.
HUNTER (on camera): When you say don't break down, what does that mean?
MCKIERNAN: Well, they are still solid. They take them out, and these things are still hard when you -- when you tap on them. They're not like a Cheerio that breaks down and dissolves in your mouth. This is a product that doesn't seem to do that.
HUNTER (voice-over): But the manufacturer says, in most cases, Greenies do break down. And they urge dog owners to pick the right size treat for their dog.
(on camera): So, just what's in a Greenie? Things like wheat gluten and fiber -- experts tell us nothing all that unusual. But the process used to form a Greenie makes it really hard, and the company says it has to be that way, in order to clean a dog's teeth when it's chewed.
(voice-over): On each package, there's also a warning. The fine print says, monitor your dog to ensure the treat is adequately chewed. Gulping any item can be harmful or even fatal to a dog.
(on camera): This group of Denver dog owners all insist they followed package instructions, and, still, their dogs got sick. Some say they said they fed their dogs Greenies for a year or more before they had a problem. In others, all it took was one.
PAULA MATSUMOTO, DOG OWNER: It got stuck in his esophagus. It didn't go up. It didn't go down. And it almost killed him.
LAURIE GAYNOR, DOG OWNER: She's not going to gulp this, any more than she gulps her food or any other treat. And nothing else has choked her nearly to death.
HUNTER: Ruthie Chimabookaroh's (ph) dog, a Samoyed, died after being sick for a week. A Greenie got stuck in its intestine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was suffering a great deal. I -- I feel so bad that she had to suffer so much.
HUNTER: And these dog owners are not alone.
Our CNN investigation discovered 40 cases since 2003 where a veterinarian extracted a Greenie from a dog. The average weight of the dogs was about 40 pounds. In 13 cases, the pet died, like Fern Finer's dog Twiggy (ph) in Los Angeles.
FERN FINER, DOG DIED: I was hysterically crying, because it's like -- this is like -- this is my baby. This is like part of my life. You know, she was everything to me.
HUNTER (on camera): How many deaths, injuries, complaints have you had?
ROETHELI: It's a very, very, very low number.
HUNTER (voice-over): Roetheli and his company vet, Dr. Brad Quest, say, the focus should instead be on dental benefits. For instance, they say, Greenies are much safer than putting a dog under anesthesia to clean teeth.
(on camera): You're saying that the good Greenies do, taking care of teeth, far outweighs any deaths or injuries on the other end?
DR. BRAD QUEST, VETERINARIAN, S&M NUTEC: There is a very, very low downside risk with them. There's a huge benefit that many, many dogs have been saved, in effect, by having Greenies, vs. not having any care or using a different type of oral care treatment.
HUNTER: But vets say, the big problem with Greenies is, if they're swallowed in chunks, they won't break down.
QUEST: And -- and most of the veterinarians that we have contact with are -- are very supportive, and -- and have -- and have absolutely no issues with the Greenies.
HUNTER: But the ones that we have talked to have. I mean, they have taken them out of dogs still intact. Doesn't that concern you guys?
ROETHELI: Certainly, it concerns us. And we -- we look at it and -- and try to do the best that we possibly can to deal with issues like that, try to learn from them. And it's why we're working with FDA closely, voluntarily, to get to the bottom of what the cause is.
HUNTER (voice-over): The Food and Drug Administration says it's looking into eight complaints, but has not formally launched an investigation. CNN also spoke with several vets who recommend the product.
QUEST: At the end of the day, Greg, you know, literally millions of Greenies are -- are enjoyed by dogs on a weekly basis, with absolutely no incidents.
SCHLANGER: This is Tyson here.
HUNTER: Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for Tyson, who died in December.
FALLS: Our vet said he probably felt like he was very, very sick, which, in my head, was just a nice way of saying he suffered, you know, and that he was in pain.
HUNTER: Greg Hunter, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Many dog owners don't realize another danger to their pet, the laundry basket. Boxer shorts, socks, stockings can also cause intestinal obstructions when swallowed whole, and you might be surprised by how many dogs find them very tempting.
It's common knowledge in Washington, Dick Cheney perfers to work behind the scenes, under the radar, as far from the media glare as he can get. But has his pension for privacy gone too far? LIVE FROM investigates, straight ahead.
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