When bringing my new 5.0 home from Chilliwack last fall I had a “one in a million” incident involving the entry step and my dog Doc that could have resulted in his serious injury.
When he was going down the step one of his claws became caught in one of the holes in the entry step. Fortunately he was exiting slowly and after considerable struggling he did manage to pull it free with no serious damage other than little yelping and a sore toe. Had he been in a bigger hurry I am sure that he could have pulled his claw totally out of his paw and possibly broken or even pulled off his toe. That would have been a seriously tragic accident and necessitated vet care in a place where none was available.
I have since purchased a full step self adhesive stair tread at Lowe’s similar to the tape that Escape puts only on the front edge of the step. This covers all the holes in the step so that this type of accident can’t happen again.
Thought those of you with pets should be aware of this hazard and might want to do something similar to prevent a similar type of needless accident. We all love our pets.
Trailer: 2009 Escape 17B 2020 Toyota Highlander XLE
Posts: 17,136
I've got the carpet that fastens to the step with spring loaded clips. ETI sold them.
There are hazards everywhere. My daughter stuck her finger in a hole in the seat of a folding plastic picnic table. Quite a chore to free her. I noted that newer versions of the table don't have those holes.
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What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
I encountered and posted this issue back in 2014 with my Escape. I purchased some self adhesive stair treads to cover the holes. Now Hershey jumps into the trailer, as she remembers the painful nail accident. I have added this step cover to my Escapes since then, sorry for your pet's injury.
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Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
I have a homemade cover on mine now- dogs refused to use it until I covered it. But I need to get something more durable. Self-adhesive stair treads might be ideal.