Daft dog lucky to be alive after swallowing 21-inch riding crop
A DOG has miraculously survived after swallowing a 21-inch riding whip.
Boxer Hugo has miraculously survived after swallowing a 21-inch riding whip
Boxer Hugo was being driven out to a wood for a walk when his owner noticed he was ill.
The 10-month-old pooch was rushed into surgery by stunned vets after X-rays showed he had swallowed a riding crop whole without leaving one chew mark.
Partner Chris Hawkins, of Vets4Pets in Newton Abbot, south Devon, said it was a miracle that the crop went so far without causing fatal damage.
Remarkably, Hugo is now recovering well at his home in nearby Kingsteington after surgery to remove the crop.
Mr Hawkins said: “It is certainly a case we are never going to forget. I felt a hard mass in the abdomen and tried to work out what he might have eaten.
“But the X-ray showed there was something stretching right from his abdomen to his larynx.
An x-ray of the 21-inch riding crop the dog swallowed
It is certainly a case we are never going to forget
“It is just a miracle the crop had gone so far without penetrating any organs and causing damage.
“Had he swallowed the other sharp end first it would have been a different story.”
He added: “Luckily everything in his body stretched rather than was torn. It is incredible really. He performed the act of a sword swallower in a moving vehicle and somehow managed to avoid choking carrying on pushing it through.
“We had no idea what we were dealing with. What we found amazed us all. He was obviously determined to eat it.
“It was a miracle escape and a once-in-a-career event.
His shocked owner said: “Hugo was being sick and bringing up blood. My daughter was completely hysterical.”
It is incredible the crop gone so far without penetrating any organs