By Mary Lou Conton
My beloved 10 year old, 18 lb Cairn Terrier, Harley, who grew up around Recliner Lift chairs (riser recliner chairs) somehow got swept under my mothers lift chair August 15, 2014 and was crushed to death. I am devastated, my mother is as well.
This picture shows the style of chair. Harley’s little body was stretched across the front bar, the chair goes down about 3″ above the floor when lifted. I believe the chair must have been reclined, and somehow, he got swept under it as she was moving from recline, to sit, stand. She is very hard of hearing, unable to wear a hearing aid, the tv is always very loud, so did not hear him.
He would have been 11 in January. He bleed out from his crush injuries, sadly was not found for a while, as she got up to go to bed, and I found him when I came home.
I am angry at myself, for not protecting him, at the manufacturer for not having better warnings, or not installing “Stop” mechanisms like garage door openers. I would gladly have paid more $ for a chair with this. Of course, I knew recliners could be dangerous to children, but thought that was corrected by making the “X” recliner mechanism smaller so heads didn’t get caught.
Since he was always around them from the time he was a puppy, and never went near the bottom of the chair I’m in shock. He always sat on her lap when I was out, never under the recliner part, as a matter of fact, she rarely reclines. The woman at the cremation place told us this is a fairly common cause of death for cats, dogs of all sizes as well as ferrets, etc.
Also, sofa beds commonly trapped and kill pets. I looked through the manual, a tiny one-inch warning logo, in black. I talked to the medical supply store, never heard of this, never warned anyone. They promised me, they will ask if there are pets in the home to anyone who comes in to but one, and warn them of the danger.
There should be better safety measures in place. Heartbroken! Thank you, for sharing your story and I am sorry for all of the people who’ve posted losses. R.I.P. Harley, hope there really is a Rainbow Bridge and I see you again. <3Associated Page: Recliner chairs and kittens
Mary Lou Conton
P.S. from Michael. Mary Lou left a comment and I decided to make it an article to spread the word a bit more because this is such a tragic accident. It should not be allowed to happen. Cats are particularly good companions to elderly people so these chairs are more likely to be a hazard to many cats in homes. How many are hurt or killed?
P.P.S Reclining chairs can kill people too. A cinema-goer was crushed by a reclining chair as he searched for his keys and phone underneath it. It took 15 mins to release him and he died in hospital a week later of a hypoxic brain injury. The chair had malfunctioned and they’ve since been replaced. The cinema was fined £750,000.
Thanks Valerie for commenting.
My heart goes out to you, what a tragic end & my father is deaf too & I never thought of that when my Monty was alive x
Aww its never easy is it. To matter what happens to our Cats or any animals. It takes awhile to Grieve. Sometimes It takes Forever. It would be rather worse when its an Accident. It would just be horrible. Your in the best Place here as we really do understand. At least your’ve put awareness out there. Which is great as makes more Awareness. 🙂
Thanks Kylee, Yesterday was just a tough day, one moth without Harley. I appreciate your comments. I have distributed copies of this article to groomers, vets, pet stores in a 15 mile radius so far, and they have happily posted it. ML <3
Micheal,
Excellent points, I will add that information to the cover letters I am sending along with a copy of this article to the manufacturers of Recliners, Lift chairs, Sofa’s here in the US. I will be happy to send it to carpet manufacturers as well. Quite often the fabric suppliers, also make carpet, etc. I agree, the chemicals can be quite toxic.
Thank you again for your concern and kindness in placing Harley’s tragic death front and center on your site. Though he was a dog, he truly loved cats. Our neighbors cats and he communed peacefully for years. Hopefully we can cause some changes to be made in the industry and at least are raising awareness here.
Adding a picture of Harley on a hospital bed, visiting, his Nana just home from the hospital. “Jama-time.” Harley spent the majority of his time naked, as just a dog. 😉 He did ride, as a passenger, lol, safely in a specially made pack with Doggles on a Harley Softail.
Mary Lou
I agree that manufacturers need to do more. They need to think of companion animals as well as people when creating these products. There are other examples such as fire retardants in furniture to which cats are particularly vulnerable and new carpets with chemicals in them which can hurt cats.