Pet lovers are questioning whether dog toys are fit for purpose when they can end up destroyed in less than a day.
Kathy Simpson cares for two Labradors and after watching them chomp through countless toys, she decided to splash out at a high-end pet store.
She paid $26 for an 'All for Paws' branded lambswool toy and gave it to seven-month-old Labrador, Ginger. It lasted just 20 minutes.
Kathy told Fair Go she thought that it was "ridiculous".
"I tried to sew it together but it was impossible, the material was so soft that it just ripped to shreds so it was into the bin."
Lawyer and McVeagh Fleming partner Craig Andrews said the Consumer Guarantees Act has a broad reach in terms of the range and value of goods that it covers.
From "the smallest bottle opener ... right up to $180,000 pleasure boats".
Andrews said a dog’s stuffed toy would be covered by Section 6 of the Act, which is a guarantee of 'acceptable quality'.
In other words, it needs to be safe, be durable and live up to what's said about the product.
Fair Go approached the company that makes the toy, but All For Paws has still not responded.
Complete Canine Care general manager Lacey Knox would like to see more detailed labelling on dog products.
She said she has shopped at some stores where "the toys are just loose, there's no label to say what's in them or how long they should last, or supervision required".
She also has advice for pet owners, revealing some of the tried and true toys at her daycare.
"We start the dogs off every day with Nylabones ... and second-hand tennis balls are a real hit.
"But also, think outside the box. One of our most favourite toys, well-loved by all dogs, is cardboard. We just take all the tape and staples out of the boxes and put them in the pens and the dogs go crazy, they love them."
Other toys Fair Go looked at had a label that said that no toy is 'indestructible'.
Andrews said that doesn’t give companies an out, though.
"It's just a warning to the owner that there will be limits to the durability and I think if that's all they say, then I think in some ways, it's a little bit a statement of the obvious.
"It's still going to need to meet some reasonable durability."
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