Re: ALERT! New Target grids are dangerous!
Hi, I'm a volunteer with the Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue, and the grid change has been a big issue for us, as I suspect it is with many rescues across the country. One of our members contacted Target about the grids and has supplied us with contact informtion and a case number, so that others can continue to contact Target with more information. She is asking that we post this information to online forums where it will be seen and hopefully be of some use to others. I'm going to post below most of the email she sent out on our rescue forum because I think a lot of what she said is very important. If you use this contact information and talk to Lindy or anyone else at Target, please post and let us all know what you talked about and if anything came out of it! Thanks!
I decided to contact the Target Consumer affairs division this morning about this serious problem. First let me post that number along
with the contact person and case number.
Phone 1-800-555-1212
Contact- Lindy
Case #1-321-450-426
I explained to her that while we are well aware that we are using
this product (product # 085 110175) for something other than its
intended use, that it is commonly used nation wide for our purpose and
has been for quite some time. I told her that it was no longer of any
use for us and that there had also been at least one possible case of a
death. She has asked for more information about the death. Can anyone
put me in touch with the person that lost their pig? They would very
much like this information and I would like to be able to provide it for
them. Also any first hand problems could and should be reported to them
using the information above. I also told her that while we are able to
find a similar product (at least for the time being) at other places,
they are much more costly. We really like the product and price at
Target.
Lindy was very sympathetic and also supplied me with contact
information for the actual manufacturer I will be getting in touch with
them after the holiday. I asked her to please do some research online to
see what a large amount of cages are made out of this product and to try
to consider this when dealing with this issue.
I'm asking you all to start posting on your pig and rabbit forums
contact information for Target and to try to get people nation wide to
get in touch with them. While I know a few of you have looked for other
sources, my fear is that the grids are all coming from the same
manufacturer. When the current stocks are gone they could all be the
larger grids. Target is a caring community minded company and a large
player for any manufacturing company. We need to let them know how badly
we need to be able to continue to purchase this product. We need to put
some POLITE pressure on them. Remember that in using this product not
for its intended use we truly have no legitimate complaint. So act
accordingly when contacting them. We need a BIG IMPORTANT FAVOR from
them.
Application screeners, also please be aware that you will have to be sure that
your applicants check the actual size of the squares within the grids.
The product being offered by the other sources could change at any time.
One other issue that has only occurred to me while writing this so I
did not mention it this morning to Lindy is that there are most likely
hundreds of publications on the web and in print advising people on this
type of cage construction. It may be an issue we will be dealing with
for a long time.
Again anyone that can put me in touch with the person that lost
their sweet pig please try it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading everyone. If you can contribute any information, please call Target! Remember to be polite. If you volunteer with a rescue, it might also be helpful to post here how you are currently dealing with this problem. If you have any websites with information about where to buy grids or make cages printed on it, you may want to somehow modify it.
My friend mentions one person we have heard of whose pig died from an accident with the new grids. If you know this person, or of anyone whose pigs have had tragic accidents with the new grids, you can PM me and I will put them in touch with my friend, or just have them call Target directly. However, if anyone calls Target directly about this, can you also post that on here so we know someone did?
Thanks everyone.