Patent ID: 7971556

Claim:
A method of inhibiting human user hand contact with pet saliva of a pet deposited on a play toy during interactive play by the pet and the user, comprising: providing the toy with an animal access region and an animal restricted region, said animal access region being comprised of at least one portion of the toy which the pet is more likely to bite and hold in a mouth of the pet than at least another portion of the toy comprising said animal restricted region, when the toy is naturally picked up in the mouth of the pet, by virtue of at least one of enhanced sensory attraction or greater relative physical accessibility to the pet as compared with said animal restricted region, said animal restricted region which is comprised of said at least another portion of the toy being conversely less likely to be accessed by the pet during play than said animal access region, when the toy is naturally picked up in the mouth of the pet, by reason of at least one of less sensory appeal or structural inaccessibility to the pet as compared with said animal access region, such that saliva of the pet is deposited to at least a lesser degree on said toy within said animal restricted region as compared with said animal access region when the toy is naturally picked up in the mouth of the pet during the interactive play; and handling the toy following said toy being picked up in the mouth of the pet by grasping of the animal restricted region by the user such that contact with saliva by the user is inhibited.