Pets At Home has withdrawn three popular dog leads from all shops in the UK and Ireland after a dog died in a tragic accident, according to a report on the Belfast Live website.

Archie the Beagle-Harrier was being walked when the clip securing his harness to the KONG-branded lead snapped open without warning, leaving him unsecured. He consequently stepped in front of a van and was killed outright.

His heartbroken family, Joanne McPoland and Ed Hughes from Dunmurry, Belfast, had bought the lead just 48 hours earlier.

Pets at Home were contacted by the couple immediately after the incident and within hours the product range had been removed from shelves. And the cost of the lead, £18.99, was refunded to the couple.

The firm behind the lead is California-based Mission Pets Inc, who license it to KONG.  Mission Pets told Belfast Live a product recall was triggered as soon as they heard about the fatal accident.

Michelle Elliott, president of Mission Pets, said: “Product safety is a top concern. We are in direct contact with the parties involved to gather all the facts and circumstances.

"Our engineers would like to see the product that failed. Once we understand the situation better, then we will work quickly towards resolution.”

A spokesperson for Pets At Home, told Belfast Live: “We were devastated to hear about what happened to Archie and our hearts go out to Ms McPoland and Mr Hughes at this very difficult time.

“We take safety concerns of this nature very seriously and are removing from sale three Kong products that use this carabiner clip, including the Rope Dog Lead, whilst we work with Kong to understand what happened.”

And a spokesperson for KONG said: “We at KONG are heartbroken and working closely with our partners at Mission Pets to thoroughly understand the situation that occurred.”

The full Belfast Live story can be read by clicking here

Picture of lead taken by Joanne McPoland and Ed Hughes.