CPSC, Dollar Tree Stores Inc. Announce Recall of Stuffed Pool Animal
Home product recall 03-011. Announced by CPSC on Oct 10, 2002.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.
The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Oct 10, 2002. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
The seams can separate, exposing the polyester stuffing and foam beads. The foam beads pose a choking hazard to young children.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Consumers should take these stuffed animals away from young children immediately and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- How to reach the firm: For more information, consumers can call Dollar Tree Stores at (800) 876-8077 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s web site at www.dollartree.com
Which ones are recalled?
There are eight types of stuffed polyester pool animals involved in this recall: crab, duck, frog, octopus, seahorse, shark, turtle and whale. The brightly colored stuffed animals have a sewn-in label that reads in part, “DOLLAR TREE DISTRIBUTION, INC.,” “MADE IN CHINA” and “RN# 87254.”
About 310,000 units, as CPSC gives them.
Stuffed Pool Animal.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 1 photo on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Distributed by Dollar Tree Stores Inc., Chesapeake, Va.
- Dollar Tree, Only One Dollar, Only $1, Dollar Express and Dollar Bills sold the stuffed animals nationwide, from April 2002 through August 2002, for $1.
- Made in China, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
CPSC and Dollar Tree Stores have received one report of the seam ripping, exposing the polyester stuffing and a plastic bag containing foam beads. No injuries have been reported.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.