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Common Household Product Can Be Deadly For Dogs

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 NEWS) - Bonnie Harlan's sidekick was her dog Blue.

Then, one day last December, he wasn't there to greet her at the door.

"I looked through my house twice, and finally upstairs as I walked past my game room, I could see, out of the corner of my eye, Blue laying lifeless on the floor with a Cheetos bag covering his head," Harlan remembers.

"I threw myself over this dog's body. I was just crying. I mean I couldn't believe that he had died. I mean, I had just seen him."

Blue, she realized, had dug the bag out of the trash and suffocated in it.

Grieving, Harlan turned to the internet to share her story where she discovered it was hardly unique.

Harlan has now collected the details of more than 35 cases of pet suffocation.

She runs a Facebook page, called "Prevent Pet Suffocation."

And she's reaching out to a giant in the chip industry, Frito Lay.

"They can really help us," Harlan says.

Harlan would like to see manufacturers put a warning on their bag.

So far, though, she says the response from Frito Lay hasn't been encouraging.

"That this a packaging issue," says Harlan. "They're a major organization. And they'll take it under advisement. But they are aware that this has happened to some dogs."

We spoke to a veterinarian whose own dog suffocated on a dog food bag.

But Dr. John Jedwylder says he doesn't see a need for warnings.

But Harlan is determined to spread the message to pet owners.

We spoke with Frito Lay, and a spokesperson would only say the company is aware of Harlan's concern.

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