Fact Check

Exer-Hide Warning

Are Exer-Hide chew toys contaminated with toxins or rubber bands?

Published May 16, 2011

Claim:

Claim:   Exer-Hide brand rawhide chew products for dogs are contaminated with toxins or rubber bands.


UNDETERMINED


Examples:


[Collected via Facebook, November 2014]

DO NOT buy Exer-Hides dog bones! I found rubber bands in the one my dog was chewing last night. I know this brand is sold by WalMart. I am alerting the WalMart where I bought the bones from but I'm not sure what they are going to do about it. Spread the word to anyone who has a dog!
 


[Collected via e-mail, May 2011]

Walmart sells a rawhide like chew called Exer-Hide - this has been causing MAJOR seizures and death. This product is manufactured in Brazil. This has been happening since December and yet the crap is still being sold.
Please - pass this info on! ....... SOLD IN ASDA!!


 

Origins:   In May 2011, rumors circulated on the Internet about Exer-Hides brand rawhide chew products which claimed the products were manufactured in Brazil and had caused seizures and even death in some dogs. Two years later, in June 2013, the FDA confirmed a recall of Exer-Hides brand rawhide twists (manufactured in China, not Brazil) due to the presence of unapproved antibiotics in those products. The issue that prompted the 2013 recall has since been resolved, but it was unclear whether it was linked to the rumored dog illnesses of 2011.

On 5 November 2014, a Facebook user posted a warning comprising three images of Exer-Hides brand rawhide chew toys purchased at Walmart and a statement that she had discovered rubber bands in at least one of those chew toys:



At this point it is unknown whether this was a one-off issue or whether the referenced product typically contains rubber bands. As far as we know, neither retailer Walmart nor the manufacturer has neither addressed this claim nor recalled any of the brand's products in response to it.

Last updated:   13 November 2014

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.