Gulp! 18-inch dog swallows 16-inch stick
LONDON (AFP) - In a feat that put human sword swallowers to shame, a British dog managed to gulp down a stick only two inches shorter than its own body, and escape unscathed, a report said.
Millie, a two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, swallowed the stick by accident while on a walk with her owner, John Hurst, in fields behind his home in Portsmouth, southern England, the Daily Mail newspaper said.
Hurst threw the 16-inch stick for Millie to retrieve, but it stuck in the ground like a javelin and the sprinting dog managed to effectively impale herself on it, swallowing it whole.
Fearing the worst, Hurst rushed his pet to a vet, where micro-cameras found the stick had somehow worked its ways down Millie's throat and deep into her stomach without hitting any vital organs on the way.
After a two-hour operation, the only injury to Millie was a small scratch inside her stomach, the report said.
Dogs receiving treatment for swallowed sticks was common, vet Matthew Tyler told the newspaper.
"But for a dog to get a stick stuck this far down is unheard of," he added.
LONDON (AFP) - In a feat that put human sword swallowers to shame, a British dog managed to gulp down a stick only two inches shorter than its own body, and escape unscathed, a report said.
Millie, a two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, swallowed the stick by accident while on a walk with her owner, John Hurst, in fields behind his home in Portsmouth, southern England, the Daily Mail newspaper said.
Hurst threw the 16-inch stick for Millie to retrieve, but it stuck in the ground like a javelin and the sprinting dog managed to effectively impale herself on it, swallowing it whole.
Fearing the worst, Hurst rushed his pet to a vet, where micro-cameras found the stick had somehow worked its ways down Millie's throat and deep into her stomach without hitting any vital organs on the way.
After a two-hour operation, the only injury to Millie was a small scratch inside her stomach, the report said.
Dogs receiving treatment for swallowed sticks was common, vet Matthew Tyler told the newspaper.
"But for a dog to get a stick stuck this far down is unheard of," he added.