Bucks County Company Touts Ice-Melting Product Safe For Children And Pets
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Wednesday was one of the first days this warm winter that we've had to think about ice and how to get rid of it. A Bucks County company promises its product will do so super safely.
Safe Paw is a salt-alternative ice-melter plus traction ingredient from Richboro-based Gaia Enterprises.
Director of Operations Steve Vernik said salt is not only corrosive, but heats up as it does its work, creating a hazard for pets.
"When they walk on it, it gets in between their paw pads and then it starts heating up and then it can burn them because they got the moisture from the outside," said Vernik. "Then they generally will start licking it and they'll start burning their mouths."
But Vernik said Safe Paw is safe.
"It is the only ice-melter that is 100% safe for the environment," he said. "Safe for property and surfaces and safe for pets and children, even if ingested."
It's made in York Pennsylvania, in a factory that employs 150 adults with disabilities, an outgrowth of a dual commitment to the product's safety and to provide some good jobs for people who have a tougher time than most in finding them.
"We happen to have that in our family," added Vernik. "So we decided that this product is so safe that we could employ a lot of people and give them decent pay and great benefits to produce this product."
