Ironically, I've been down this road before. In 1997, we lost three birds (two parakeets and a cockatiel) to phosgene gas poisoning. This noxious element was used in chemical warfare during WWI, and also happens to be a byproduct of superheated teflon.
Simply put, our new- at the time- Kenmore oven, with its Teflon interior, emmited phosgene gas when in self-cleaning mode. Now when it was installed my wife asked the installer- in the course of being instructed in the oven's use- if there was any hazard for pets during self-cleaning, and he stated flatly that there was none. Nor was any warning given in the manual.
In retrospect the reason for this ommission seems obvious; if you give a warning of a potentially lethal hazard from an everyday occurrance like self-cleaning an oven, a wily consumer might start to wonder, "hmmm... if it can kill my birds, what can it do to my children?" Apparently these day there are warnings in the manuals, but I doubt they mention phosgene specifically.
So one November day my wife calls me at work, sobbing; the birds were all dead! Well not all- Diablo, her quaker parrot (pictured) weathered the attack, however both budgies and the cockatiel were all sadly deceased.
Sears made absolutely no bones about accepting responsibility, though they took pains to inform me that in the world of corporate liability pets are considered as 'property', and therefore their only liability was for the 'cost to replace'. Still, they cut me a check at the Service Desk where we bought the range the next day! It was about $180, and I used it to buy an N64 for my son for Christmas.
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