Charlie, a seven year old crossbreed dog from Southampton was saved by vet’s from the charity organisation PDSA after he ate an entire row of Christmas lights.
The dog already had a shady track record of munching down anything he can get his paws on including his owner’s scarf a few months before.
Sharon Fey, who funnily enough referred to Charlie her dog as ‘the light of my life’ first became concerned when she saw wires sticking out of his faeces.
The 45-year-old said: “I hadn’t even noticed that the lights had been chewed at this stage but it quickly became clear what had happened.
“Back in March he ate one of my scarves and needed an operation to remove it, but I thought it was just a one-off incident as he hadn’t shown any signs that he was going to be a repeat offender. I’ve had dogs all my life and have never known a dog act like this before.”
A quick trip to the vet and an x-ray immediately uncovered Charlie’s problem with the tangled remains of the lights clearly visible inside his stomach which would have proved fatal had they not been removed.
PDSA senior veterinary surgeon Sophie Bell said she had never seen a case like it.
“Over the years I’ve seen plenty of cases of dogs swallowing strange objects – socks, dummies, rubber ducks, but it’s the first time any of us have treated a dog that has actually eaten fairy lights,” she said.
“A foreign body of this nature could easily have caused severe internal injuries so Charlie was very, very lucky. He was also fortunate that the glass didn’t cut his mouth or throat. And he could have been electrocuted if he’d bitten through the wire when the lights were switched on.
You’ll all be happy to know that Charlie has gone on to make a full recovery. What a lucky mutt!
Image: Getty
