Puppy survives after eating fish hook

A PUPPY needed �1,500-worth of emergency treatment after swallowing a fishing hook left on a north Suffolk beach.

Four-month-old Torres was enjoying a walk on Kessingland beach, near Lowestoft, when owner Estelle Jenner noticed he was in distress.

“He came up to me gagging with the hook hanging over 30cm out of his mouth. A fisherman must have left it on the beach with fishing bait still attached,” said Mrs Jenner, 37, of Church Road, Kessingland.

“I acted quickly, securing the hook to the outside of his collar to stop him swallowing it further. If I'd have tugged or snipped it off, heavens knows what could have happened.”

Mrs Jenner rushed Torres, a greyhound collie whippet cross, to Wangford Veterinary Clinic, where he was sedated before undergoing X-rays, which showed a second hook at the other end of the wire.

“Between his aorta and heart was another hook. I certainly didn't expect there to be two hooks. If it had punctured either organ he'd have died,” Mrs Jenner added.

Torres, who was bought for Mrs Jenner's twin seven-year-old daughters Beth and Lauren only one month ago, was then transferred to a Newmarket-based specialist, where the lodged hook was removed via endoscopy.

The puppy stayed in overnight before coming home the next day, where he is recovering to his normal self. His treatment was paid for with pet insurance.

Beth and Lauren were both delighted to have their puppy back and have even taken copies of the x-rays into Kessingland Primary School, so that their fellow pupils could see the dangers found lurking on the beach.

Mrs Jenner, a veterinary nurse, said: “He's a very lucky puppy to still be alive. His oesophagus is inflamed, but other than that he is fine. Luckily I have insurance, but what if someone couldn't afford it, or what if a child had run along and stood on the hook?

“We clear up our sharp tools and dispose of them properly in the surgery, so I don't understand why something so dangerous can be left on a beach.”