Sting ray tail/dog treat

[Reel Fun]

Spent Veterans Day weekend at Tarpon Springs....a great place to visit. My daughter wanted to stop by a pet store to pick up some treats for the dog and cats. At check out I noticed a couple of boxes on the counter with chew treats for dogs in them. The lady explained....." these are sting ray tails, covered with fish skin", there were three different sizes. The three sizes made a complete tail....about 8" long each. I've never heard of or seen these before, so I had to buy one of the bigger ones for our 45 lb 11 mnth old Aussie. She really loves it and it is pretty durable as well.

Has anyone else ever seen these ? The lady also said, they did not kill the sting rays for this purpose. They use the tails for this instead of throwing them away. Very interesting

[Jumptrout51]

Interesting dog treat.
While trying to find them on line I came across this interesting bit of info;

From the good folks at Wikihow, we have an interesting little treat for those intrepid Gadlingers out there who fancy scuba diving (raise your hands...I know you're out there. I'm certified). In the wake of Steve "Croc Guy" Irwin's horrible death at the tail of a stingray, Wikihow helps us understand how we might deal with a stingray strike should we ever be unfortunate enough to have one of them lash out at you. Their advice. Well, it starts off pretty simple. "Relax" they say. But this makes sense.

They inform us that stingray stings are rarely fatal. They are caused by the sharp barb that is on the stingray's tail and that transmits a protein-based venom which causes extreme pain. The more you scream and cry and dance around in a panicked state, the more likely that venom is to make its way around your body. So sit still and "oak the affected limb in the hottest water tolerable for at least an hour". Then seek some help if you're able. An interesting note: vinegar, urine, orange juice, ki-ora or any other liquid besides almost-scalding hot water will NOT be effective against stingray venom. So you can forgo having your friend take a p*s on your leg or affected appendage. See how helpful that is?!

[mjsigns]

That stirred on old memory.....

30 years ago while I was fishing on Dog Island, I dropped a live Catfish on the top of my foot. His dorsal barb went 1" into the top of my foot. Catfish have the same protein-based venom which causes extreme pain. I ran screaming back to the house where we were staying. Mom went next door to ask the good doctor for assistance. He said had heard me screaming and running back to the house, and knew something had happened. I thought I was going to die of the pain. The doctor gave me something to put me to sleep. Before I went completely under, they soaked my foot in a super-hot water and Epsom salt mixture. I woke up later in the afternoon and actually went out flounder gigging that same evening and we were followed by a group of sting rays.... That is one day I will never forget....

[DuctTapeKing]

I don't think catfish have venom, but who cares it hurts either way. Their slime can cause bad infections. I do know an old salt who is about the toughest guy I have ever meet. I've seen him just about flatten his thumb with a hammer and get banged up a bit and he almost always just shrugs it off. He told me the worse pain he has ever been in was when he stepped on a Sting Ray at St. George Island. After he stepped on it he went and sat on the shore for about 15 minutes not wanting to make he's friend stop fishing and leave just on account of him. Need less to say he couldn't stand it and got them to carry him to the hospital. On the way they stopped at a local bait shop in easpoint and the owner who had lived in east point all his life said to get some meat tendorizer and rub it on the wound. They did this and my buddy said the relief was instantainous. Not totally gone but deffiantly lessened quite a bite. (It has to do with the breaking down of the protein, which is why it works with meat and this protein based venom) From that day on you will not catch my old salty buddy at the beach or fishing without meat tenderizor in his tackle box. For those of yall who take your kids to the beach to play in the surf, wade fish, or even ever just get your toes wet you might want to throw some meat tenderizer in your boat or tackle box.

[Sea Gurl]

Interesting - never heard of them but found this link. Thanks for informing us.

http://www.petextras.com/oceanchews.html

[Reel Fun]

Cool stories.......the thing about these treats that interested me most was the fish skin that they wrapped the sting ray tail in, not sure why they did that??? But..it works..............must have used a special eatable fish skin glue