Top 10 Gadgets That Harm Pets

Who would have "thunk" it? Apparently, iPods and laptops are two of the most dangerous gadgets for pets. Maybe they should grow fingers.

According to poll results listed over on Telegraph.co.uk, pet insurance company Petplan conducted a survey of 3,000 animal owners to find out what exactly is harming their pets, their survey ranging from incidents such as curious kitties sniffing candles to a dog swallowing a pair of woman’s panties. The insurance company said cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs are injured the most in regards to current technology, chewing into power and video cables. Unfortunately, rather than protect the animals from causing harm to themselves, most owners usually blame their pets for their misfortune.

So what gadgets cause our pets the most harm? Believe it or not, Apple’s iPod comes in first, racking in a measly 15 percent of the owners surveyed. But can these devices harm our pets? They are easy to swallow for larger animals, or could be considered as the perfect yet crunchy chew toy. Laptops come in a close second for obvious reasons; remote controls and plasma TVs come in third and fourth place respectively.

Have a gamer in the house? Somehow, the Nintendo Wii console ranks in fifth place on Petplan’s list, possibly stemming from the power cable, the network cable, the sensor cable and/or the actual battery-powered remote. The PlayStation (3) and Nintendo DS consoles also appear on the list, however it’s probably safe to assume that any gaming device - from the Xbox 360 to the PC - qualify to hit the list as well. DVD / Blu-ray players also appear to be hazardous, ranking in the sixth position.

Surprisingly enough, Karaoke machines are also considered dangerous, sitting in last place on Petplan’s top 10 list. While it seems highly unlikely that pets will fire up the latest Guns N Roses tune on the machine, apparently there are enough devices scattered throughout the 3,000 surveyed that they are considered harmful. Also be sure to keep those mobile phones out of reach, as they’re considered more dangerous than those killer karaoke machines, ranking in the ninth position.

Of course, it should be obvious that any household electronic device could potentially cause harm to pets; they’re known to inflict harm on those intelligent beings called humans. Case in point: many Nintendo Wii owners damaged appliances, windows and even harmed themselves using the Wii remote in a not-so-gentle fashion when the console initially shipped. Even drinking a nice cool beverage and then spilling it around the base of a PC could become a serious fire hazard. While it’s convenient to point fingers at Fluffy for chewing through the stereo’s power cable and winding up blazing through the house with its tail on fire, intelligent pet owners should consider their pets when placing electronics in open places.

Of course, it’s impossible to monitor every electronic device in the house; something is bound to happen in the next room, out in the garage, despite the pet owner’s best efforts. And if consumers wake up in the middle of the night and find Chops smoking a stogy and watching one of those late night skin flicks, just hope that they don’t get too excited and decide to gnaw on the remote.