A daft puppy had a brush with death after it swallowed three face masks and had them removed from its tummy by vets.
Benedict, a six-month-old Sprockador, managed to get the coverings lodged in his stomach and small intestine causing bruising in his gut.
His owners became concerned when he started vomiting and lost appetite, so took him to Village Vet’s in West Hampstead, London.
X-ray images revealed the dangerously-sharp face mask wires that could’ve led to serious internal injury.
Head Vet Victoria Henry said the length of the masks risked a harmful gut blockage.
A shocking photo shows the clump of face coverings after they were removed in an emergency operation.
Fortunately Benedict’s gut was not damaged and the poor pooch has fully recovered.
Victoria has appealed for people to reasonably dispose of their masks to stop this happening to another animal.
She said: “This is a very ‘2020’ scenario because of Covid-19 and it’s important for both pet owners and the general public to be aware of the danger.
“We’re urging everyone to be extremely careful with how they store and dispose of their face masks.
“They need to realise these masks pose a double risk to pets because they not only have sharp wire inside, they also act as linear foreign bodies which can cause a serious blockage of an animal’s intestines.
“Benedict was brought to us at Village Vet because he was vomiting and had a reduced appetite.
“He was sent for X-rays which showed some really dense foreign objects, raising suspicions of wires in face masks in both the stomach and small intestine, and an ultrasound scan confirmed gastric and intestinal obstruction.
“He was taken straight to surgery where we opened his stomach and the intestine to remove three foreign objects.
“A whole face mask was found causing an obstruction in poor Benedict’s stomach, another face mask was in the second part of the small intestine and was acting as a linear foreign body, with folding and bruising of the gut, and a further sharp piece of wire was found in the first part of his intestines.
“Luckily, the gut was healthy, there were no perforations or signs of infection in the abdomen due to leakage of gut contents.
“Benedict was carefully monitored overnight and recovered so well he was discharged two nights later.
“He’s just been given the all clear at his post-op check-up and is happy and healthy again, however, we hope his experience acts as a warning for everyone – pet owners and the general public.”
