Gold Coast staffy dog Ally suffers reaction

A young Gold Coast woman says her puppy was left fighting for life with her ‘skin falling off’ after the use of a common pet product. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Gold Coast Bulletin has been contacted by Blackmores following the conclusion of their investigation into this matter. Following consultation with Ally’s owner, Ally’s treating vets and Blackmores’ vets, Blackmores has concluded that it is extremely unlikely that Ally’s reaction has been caused by the use of PAW MediDerm, particularly as Ally has been previously exposed to that product several times without issue.

A young Gold Coast woman says her puppy was left fighting for life with her “skin falling off” after the use of a common pet product.

Janaya Randall, 22, said her partner gave their nine-month-old blue staffy, Ally, a bath using the PAW by Blackmores mediderm gentle medicated dog shampoo on Monday afternoon.

Shortly after the bath, Ms Randall said she received frantic messages from her partner saying Ally’s skin was “falling off” and her hair was “coming out”.

“All he did was wash her like we normally do. When he was drying her down with her towel was when her skin started to come off.”

Ally had skin lesions across her back and started vomiting and falling over when Ms Randall arrived home from work that night.

She described the sores as “severe burns”.

“That’s when we took her to an emergency vet. Because her body was trying to repair the burns as fast as it can, it put all her organs, mainly her kidney and liver, into shock,” the Southport woman said.

The Bulletin sighted a report from the emergency vet that stated Ally was being treated for “suspected allergic reaction to shampoo”.

The company which sells the shampoo, Blackmores, said it was investigating the matter.

“We empathise with the distress experienced by the dog and its owner and take matters such as these very seriously,” a spokeswoman said. 

“We have a stringent process in place for suspected adverse reactions. Initial indications suggest that another third-party product was used concurrently with our PAW product, possibly influencing the reaction. 

“Our PAW mediderm gentle medicated shampoo is specifically formulated by our expert vet team with mild, low irritant, and effective ingredients for animals.

“We remain dedicated to supporting the consumer and their dog’s wellbeing during this investigation.” 

Ms Randall said her partner did not use another product with the shampoo and only diluted it with water.

The couple had previously used the shampoo to treat Ally’s dermatitis a few times before without any issue.

The staffy remains under constant vet care.The owner said she did not have pet insurance and had already forked out $6000 in treatment for Ally.

Ms Randall has launched an online fundraiser to help pay for the mounting vet bills.

“Ally requires ongoing treatment and I have no way financially of doing that, so I am hoping there are some very kind people out there that might be able to help out, no matter how small that might be,” she said. 

“If she doesn’t get the proper care, she might not make it.” 

She urged other owners to be careful about the products they used on their pets. 

“It’s so scary and I really hope this never happens to anyone else, because it has just been absolutely heartbreaking these past few days.”